Unconditionally
by ACSkyefan88
Summary: Post 2x10. For safety, Skye sits in the Cage on the Bus as the team tries to figure out what happened to her and what power she acquired. Between seeing her father, possibly having dangerous powers and losing Trip, she has completly broken down. Coulson comes to comfort her. - Stories about the relationships between Coulson, Skye and May.
1. Chapter 1

_After the events of 2x10 'What They Become', everybody got out of the city and is now back on the Bus on their way to the Playground. Tripp is dead. Raina has turned into some kind of weird porcupine-creature and they are not sure what kind of powers Skye acquired. For safety reasons FitzSimmons suggested she stay in the Cage on the Bus, because in there she won't be able to hurt anybody by accident, while FitzSimmons try to figure out what might have happened. Coulson goes into the Cage to check up on Skye. [Set just hours after the last scene (eyeless-Inhuman(?)- phone call scene not included)]_

_DISCLAIMER: I own none of this show or of these characters._

Coulson closed the door behind him when he entered the cage. The titanium-alloy walls giving him that instant sort of weird mix of feeling claustrophobic and safe at the same time. Skye sat in fetal position near corner against the wall opposite the door. She was crying and shaking from the sobs ripping through her. Coulson moved towards her.

It was only then that she really registered that he had actually entered and was nearing her. Her fear kicked in again, and she went into a flight response.

"No, no, don't come near me!", she tried to move away from him further into the corner.

"Please, leave! Please! I don't want to hurt you, I don't want to hurt you!"

Hearing her so panicked and so afraid was a stab to his heart (again), but he wasn't just going to leave. While she turned her head away from him and hugged her own knees even tighter, he walked towards her and sat down to her right with his back against the wall and his knees pulled up.

He looked at her with warmth and understanding and put his right hand gently on her shoulder. He cared so much about this girl. He felt that they had clicked right from the beginning. When he had interrogated her and she had questioned their methods and slightly embarrassed them for not know about Centepied, he had found her tough in her own way and kind of extraordinary for what she had accomplished on her own with her laptop in a van. Even when it had seemed she betrayed the team, he had found it very difficult, because he had already begun to care for her and desperately wanted to believe she was on their side. Luckily, he was able to let all his mixed feelings of mistrust go, when she had saved him from Raina and Centepied. From then on they had become closer and closer. It had been extra hard to keep his secret carving from her, even though it was to protect her. She really, truly became the daughter he never had. He had to admit to himself that seeing her father had brought up major feelings of jealousy and protectiveness over Skye. He was glad that at least, for now, he had won that battle and she was here with him again. That she was save and by his side and if he could, he would never let her to leave again. He knew though, that she was an adult and a very capable agent now, so that he would eventually have to let her go again on missions into the unknown.

He could feel Skye trembling under his hand. Weirdly, it also seemed like the floor was shaking a little bit around her as well; like a mini-earthquake. He was probably imagining things. It must be the adrenaline catching up to him, he thought.

"I'm going to hurt you and I don't want to hurt you! You're the last person I want to hurt! Please just leave…", she began muttering again.

He couldn't stand to watch her deal with this all alone anymore. He moved his left arm around her shoulder and pulled her against him. She half-heartedly tried to fight the hug, because she was actually very afraid of accidentally hurting him, but she was exhausted and she had missed him and wanted his comfort. After meeting her psycho-father, she desperately wanted his comfort. She wanted someone that _actually_ felt like her father. She wanted the unconditional love and affection of a parent, which her father seemed to want to give, but she was angry with him and he was a murderer. It didn't feel right. But with Coulson, sitting here with his arm around her shoulder because her cared so much for her and would always be there for her; that feels right. She didn't need her biological father, when the person giving her the unconditional love she wanted was already sitting next to her. So she let herself relax her head on his shoulder.

Feeling her lean into him, he moved his right arm around her front too and pulled her even further towards him. She shifted her head more to the front of his shoulder, half on his chest. Luckily he wasn't wearing his bulletproof-vest anymore, so she could feel his heartbeat beneath her right ear. He moved his head to rest his chin on the top of her head, providing both her and himself with a with a feeling of protectiveness. He felt warmth spreading through his body, as she clinged and snuggled into him a little bit. He only partly feels bad for thinking it, but he was very happy that she wants him and not daddy dearest. He has never been an actual father, but he thinks that this is what it feels like. He loves her and he knows he will always be there for her when she needs him. Being the director of S.H.I.E.L.D. and she one of his agents will sometimes make things complicated, but when she needs him, she will always come first for him. And he will do his very best to protect her. Always.

He too had been running and fighting that day, so he smelled a quite sweaty and a bit of gunpowder and smoke; but she could still smell his cologne through it and the familiarity of it calmed her. She sighed.

They sat like that for what could have been minutes or hours. Time didn't exist at that moment. When her breathing was evened out and she felt calm enough, Skye broke the silence:

"I just can't believe he's not coming back… He should not have been… Down there."

She didn't have explain; they both knew who she was talking about. Coulson sighed, momentarily thinking of how he was going to answer.

"The Obelisk triggered a massive earthquake", he said, "imagine how much worse it could have been if he hadn't destroyed it." Tears started forming in her eyes again and Coulson could practically physically feel her grieve, guilt and self-destructive thoughts.

"Trip died a hero", he emphasized. She nodded against his chest.

He heard her sniffle and handed her the handkerchief in his pocket. The old-fashioned gentleman he secretly aspired to be should always have a proper handkerchief with him for such occasions. She took the handkerchief and blew her nose.

When she tried to give it back to him, he said "no that's ok, you keep it".

"Thanks", she said, "I didn't mean to get snot and tears all over your shirt and tie…". A small laugh escaped him.

"Don't worry about it, I have others. Also, I'm pretty sure it's not the worst thing I've gotten on there today."

Against his chest, he could feel a small smile forming on her face. It was only short-lived though, because the image of stone-Trip disintegrating flashed before her eyes again.

"I miss him so much already", she said with a quite, trembling voice. His heart broke a little again, because the smart, witty agent had grown very much on him too.

"I know", he answered, "me too".

The end.


	2. Chapter 2

_Just a fluffy Christmas story to follow up. I've gotten some very nice reviews from you guys on last the last chapter, so thanks so much for that! In the last chapter, Skye was so broken I thought she deserved a little happiness;) Also appearances by Simmons, Bobbi and Hunter. If you could find the time to review, that would be awesome!_

_DISCLAIMER: I (still) don't own this show or any of the characters_

* * *

Things were getting cozy at the Playground. As Coulson stepped out of his office to get some coffee, he found the hallway at which his office was connected decorated with all things Christmas. Strings of lights were hanging along the walls and some plushy reindeers and tiny Santas were standing here and there. Coulson followed the decorations to their common area, where he found and explosion of boxes with Christmas stuff and Simmons, Bobbi and Hunter hanging them. Simmons and Hunter were decorations an artificial Christmas tree, while Bobbi was handling the decorations that hung higher up.

"What's going on here?", Coulson asked.

"Sir!" Simmons was so startled that she almost tripped over a box, but Hunter caught her by her wrist just in time.

"Um… Well sir", she continued when she was standing solidly on her feet again, "a few weeks ago when we had been looking for information about Whitehall in the vaults, we had come across some of the old Christmas decorations of the Playground. Apparently Peggy Carter was quite a sucker for Christmas", she beamed. Coulson could see Simmons had found yet another reason to love agent Carter.

"Who gave you permission to do this?", he asked, keeping his famous pokerface completely intact.

"I, uhm… Well.. We…", Simmons stammered.

"We just thought that with everything that has happened, we could all use something to lift our spirits around here", Bobbi jumped in.

"Also", she continued, "Christmas is really a bonding time too and we guessed that an organization rebuilding, like ourselves, could always do with tighter bonds and more solidarity."

"And agent May gave us permission, sir", Simmons finally managed to answer.

Coulson smiled inwardly. May had always loved Christmas. It occurred to him that he had not spend a Christmas with her after Bahrain. He was happy she hadn't lost her love for the holidays. That she would go around his back like this, giving the others permission to decorate his base, reminded him of the old Melinda that used to play her annual Christmas-prank on him. Guess she got him again.

"Well, you have put up too much already to take it all down again, so I guess you can keep on decorating. But next time you decide to decorate my base, ask me first", he said, while looking all of them dead in the eye.

"Yes, sir", they answered in unison.

"Hunter, you wouldn't have struck me as a Christmas-enthusiast", Coulson said.

"I was tricked into helping, sir", Hunter answered, "this also happens to be very similar to how she tricked me into marrying her".

Coulson simply nodded. He was sure he would hear that story somewhere in the future. Hunter could never keep that to himself.

When he turned around to walk back to his office, a small Christmas tree, no bigger than 50cm, was sitting in corner. It was an adorable little tree.

"Are you going to keep this one here?", he asked.

"Ow, I had set that one aside for Skye!", Simmons answered, "she had told me once that she really liked Christmas as a kid. When I saw this little tree I set it aside for her, because she had been so overwhelmed lately with everything. I thought maybe it would lift her spirit a bit."

Coulson recalls Skye saying something about loving Christmas to him once too. He hadn't seen Skye in a few days now that he thought about it. He had just seen her briefly at dinner a few times, but she had always just finished when he arrived at the dinner table. He missed her and that she was sad and scared of her newly discovered earthquake abilities, weighed on him. He took another look at the little tree.

"Do you mind if I take it to her?", he asked Simmons.

"Of course not, Sir!", Simmons replied, "go right ahead. Also, it has plastic balls, so she won't accidentally break them with… you know..".

"Thanks, Simmons".

* * *

Coulson took the tree and went by his office to pick up something else as well, before he began looking for Skye. It took him a while to find her. The Playground was quite big and nobody had seen her for awhile. He had stopped by the gym to ask May, but she hadn't seen Skye either. Eventually he found Skye on the Bus in her bunk. He should have know she was there. I made her feel safe, because it reminded her of before. Also, if her powers got out of control, she could get into the Cage immediately.

She was sitting on her bed with her laptop. Her bunkdoor was open, but he still knocked. She looked up and gave him a small smile.

"Hey, AC".

That surprised him. He had not heard her nickname for him for quite a long time.

"Hey", he said, "that's the first time you've called me that in a while".

"Ow yeah", she blushed, "it must be being on the Bus maybe… Sorry, it was a bit of a reflex."

Sorry? Why would she be sorry? He had actually really missed her calling him that. It had been their thing. It made him feel closer to her.

"No, don't be sorry!", he said quickly, "I like it when you call me AC. You were right; 'AC' is way cooler than Coulson."

She let out a small laugh, while the memory resurfaced.

"Well, really it should be DC now, of course", she remarked.

"Hmm, I don't know", he thought out loud, "technically you're right, but it doesn't sound right. Stick to AC", he smiled at her.

She nodded and answered his smile.

"Also, it reminds me of before. Keeps me humble and close to the ground. It is good for a director to get pulled back to earth every once in a while. Especially when you're the director of S.H.I.E.L.D.".

A comfortable silence fell between them.

"What were you doing?", he asked. She looked back to her laptop again.

"I was searching what exploit Whitehall had used to hack our comms on the plane. I want to make an airtight security system for us. I don't want Hydra to be able to hack in on us again", she answered.

"Good", he said, "you're right. That is very important. I trust you to figure it all out".

"I will", she nodded.

He looked around her bunk. There were a lot of files and papers laying everywhere. She was a computer hacker, but the Playground was so dated that she had been forced to go analog as well. Her little Hula-dancer from her van was still standing in her window. There were a few pictures standing around too. They were pictures of the team from before and after Hydra. He had never really seen those pictures before and wondered where she got them or who took them.

There was one of them playing Scrabble on the Bus. He guessed it must have been pre-Hydra, because it was himself, Skye, Simmons, Fitz and May in the picture. Had Ward taken the picture? Could have been, because Skye was laughing in the photo. Ward had probably just wanted a picture of Skye laughing and would have cut the rest of the team off. He felt a satisfaction wash over him that Skye had finally shot that bastard. He then smiled at the memories of them playing Scrabble. They should do that again sometime.

He saw a picture that he did recognize. It showed Skye and May doing Tai Chi together in full concentration. He recognized the picture, because he himself had taken it not too long ago. How could he not capture 2 of the people he cared most about in a moment like that, while they were oblivious that he was there. He had been watching them for 20 minutes before he had taken it. Skye had probably found the photo somewhere on the S.H.I.E.L.D. network.

The picture next to that was of Trip and Skye together giving a tough look into the camera and flexing their biceps. A bit of sadness washed over him for the loss of their beloved agent. The loss was still very fresh to all of them.

The last picture warmed his heart. It was a picture of him and Skye. They stood next to each other in front of Lola, who was in the beaten up state in which she still was now. They were standing very close to each other and Skye had put left hand over his shoulder to lean on him a bit and he had his right hand on the small of her back. Skye must have made a joke to lift his spirits because they were both laughing in front of the beaten up car. To anyone that didn't know them, it would have looked like a typical father-daughter picture. He smiled at the picture. He should thank the person that took it and he should definitely get a copy for his office.

His attention returned to the little Christmas tree standing next to him and he remembered why he had come there in the first place. He pulled the tree from behind the door.

"Simmons was decorating with Bobbi inside and she had set this one aside for you. She thought you'd like it".

Skye looked up at the tree Coulson set inside her bunk. Her mouth fell open a little bit in surprise and she became really moved. The orphan in her still never expected anyone to do something just for her. When people did put effort into doing something for her, it still surprised her every time.

"Is that one for me?", she asked him with a quite, insecure voice.

"Yes", he said, "Simmons remembered you saying that you really liked Christmas, so when she found this one between all the other Christmas stuff she set it aside for you. She wanted to cheer you up a little bit."

Skye felt as though she could cry. She would hug Simmons as soon as she saw her.

"Thanks", was all she could get out.

"You're welcome", he smiled, "but it's really Jemma you should thank".

He put the tree in the corner and plugged the lights in into the outlet behind her bed. Miraculously, it still worked perfectly and instantly gave a very Christmassy feeling to her bunk.

"Looks good", he said. "Don't you want to go downstairs to help Simmons, Bobbi and Hunter decorating?"

"Best not", she scoffed, "I'll probably break all the balls instantly".

He sighed in sympathy.

"Simmons did put plastic balls in your tree though. Just in case", he said.

"That was a good call of her", Skye answered in slight self-mockery.

She looked down at her hands, which had started to vibrate slightly, as they had been doing the last few weeks. She couldn't really control it yet.

"Damn it", she cursed, as she tried to grab her own hands tightly as if that would stop the vibrating.

"Hey, hey", he hushed, "don't get stressed out".

He moved to sit next to her on the bed and started to make soothing circles on her back with his right hand to calm her.

"No, no", she tried to move away, "I can't control it. I might hurt you!"

"I'm not going anywhere Skye. I'm not letting you drown in this all alone", he said as he moved closer to her again and continued making soothing circles.

She gave into him and as she calmed down, her hands stopped vibrating gradually until they were still again.

"I'm okay now", she said, when he hadn't stopped moving his hand yet.

"I know", he said, while continuing the circles a bit longer.

He stopped rubbing her back and instead placed the same hand on her knee.

"I know it's not really Christmas yet, but I have something for you", he said.

"You do?", she asked, completely surprised again. She had already gotten her own tree from Simmons and now he had something for her too?

He briefly stood up and grabbed to gifts from behind her bunkdoor. One was really small and the other a bit bigger.

"You shouldn't have… You didn't need to...", she began.

"I wanted to", he cut her off. "Go ahead. Open them", he smiled at her.

Carefully, Skye started to unwrap the smallest gift first. Once she saw what it was she couldn't believe her eyes.

"A S.H.I.E.L.D. badge? ", she said. It looked like the one they had before, but it was slightly different. The badge inside itself was a little different too. It wasn't as plain as the previous one, but a little bit fancier with more small decorative details.

"Indeed it is", he smiled at her. "Everybody will get a new one, but I thought you deserved one first. You loved your previous one so much, but only got to have it for about a day and a half or so. I wanted to make sure you would be the one to have it the longest this time."

She threw her arms around him.

"Thank you so much, A.C.! You have no idea how much this means to me!", she sniffled into his shoulder.

"Hey, don't start crying just yet", he joked while returned the hug, "you still have another one to unwrap".

She let go on him and before she could wipe her tears away, he had already started to do it for her by gently smoothing them away with his thumb.

When she had pulled herself together, she started to unwrap the second gift. In is was a jacket. When she got it out and held in front of her, she realized that it was a S.H.I.E.L.D. tactical jacket. Her OWN tactical jacket, with S.H.I.E.L.D. logo and all.

"O my god", was all she could get out.

"Fitzsimmons designed a special fabric for it, which is both reinforced and gives extra room for vibrations. It won't rupture when you use your powers and it will also always still be comfortable for you", he said.

She kept admiring the jacket. It was black and had bands of very dark blue at the sides. It looked a bit like a mix between the tactical gear she was wearing now and May's tactical jacket. It was just her style.

"Unzip it", he gestured towards the zipper.

She did as he asked and when she opened it, she saw that on the label inside it read 'Property of Agent Skye of S.H.I.E.L.D.'. She gently smoothed her fingers over it as if to check that it was real. She was at a loss for words.

"You like it?", he asked carefully when she didn't say anything.

She looked up into his eyes. He saw that she had begun to tear up again.

"I love it", she said, "It's perfect… thank you so much".

He gave her the warmest smile. "I'm glad you like it", he replied, "but don't forget to thank May too. I was her idea to give you a proper tactical jacket that was your own."

Skye smiled at that. She loved her S.O. and she knew May cared for her, but she was still surprised when May was so caring in ways like these.

She put the jacket on and it fit perfectly. They both smiled at each other.

Suddenly she remembered something. She got on her knees and started going through stuff under her bed, while Coulson watched her with a confused look.

"Skye, what are you…", he began.

"Wait! Found it!", she said from under her bed.

When she came up, she too had a small present in her hand.

"A few months ago, when May and I were on a mission, I spotted this in the window of a local store. I bought it for when your birthday came around, because I probably wouldn't have time to buy anything then, but I guess Christmas is good too", she explained as she handed him the present. "I hope you like it".

He took the present from her and took the ribbon and paper off. In it was a tie. It had blue, red and white stripes and when he turned it over he saw that is had the logo of Captain America's shield at the end. He was so excited and moved at the same time.

"So, what do you think?", she asked, "I saw you had some Cap things in your office at the Playground and on the Bus and May had told me once that you had like a quote 'embarrassing man-crush' on the guy. And because you always wear suits… I thought you might like it…".

He started taking the tie he was currently wearing off and put on the new Cap tie. The logo stood proudly at the bottom of the tie.

"Skye, I think this is my new favorite tie", he beamed, "and in case you ever meet Audrey or Fury, don't tell them that. They both think that one that they gave me is my favorite. But I mean it this time! This really, truly, without a doubt, is my favorite tie. Thank you, Skye".

"You're welcome", she smiled.

Then Coulsons phone went off. He looked at the caller ID and answered it.

"May, is something wrong? Yeah... Okay, I'll be right there". He hung up and put the phone back in his suit jacket.

"May needs me. There is something urgent she wants to go over", he explained.

"Okay, that's fine. Do what you gotta do, mister Director", she said jokingly.

He was glad that her joking self was surfacing again.

"Just, come by my office later, okay? You've got to get of this plane sometime and Simmons and Bobbi did a really good job decorating the Playground", he tried to persuade her, "also, I believe there are a lot of other people that haven't seen you in a while and miss you."

He gave her one last smile and then stood up and left her bunk.

He hadn't even gotten past the last bunk, before he heard Skye yell his name. When he turned around, she came running up to him and hugged him.

"Thanks for everything, A.C.", she murmured into his shoulder.

He hugged her tight with one arm around her back and stroked the back of her head with his other hand.

"Anytime, Skye. Merry Christmas".

The end.


	3. Chapter 3

_Another Skye/Coulson story! Also appearance by May in this story, because as much as Coulson cares, we all know May very much does too;) This one has some angst and some fluff. _

_It is set not too long after the last chapter, so imaginge the Playground still being in full Christmas decorations, if you will. _

_I've been getting so many sweet reviews from you guys, which made me really happy and motivated to write more! You if you could find the time, please keep reviewing because you guys are awesome!_

_DISCLAIMER: I (still) don't own this show or any of the characters_

* * *

Since the writing compulsion had stopped, Coulson had finally been able to sleep through the night again, without waking up with the unrepressable urge to carve the map of the city into the wall. And when he slept, he was able to dream about other things again than alien symbols. Sometimes though, he would have preferred the symbols over his own dreams. Tonight was such a time.

He dreamed of the base being invaded by Hydra. They were led by Whitehall, Garret, Ward and Skye's father. Hadn't he killed Garret and Whitehall? The team fought back with everything they had, but it wasn't enough. There were too many Hydra agents and super soldiers.

He saw May sitting in the corner, crying like she had after Bahrain. It was the worst he had ever seen her. He wanted to run to her, to help her up, get her out of the crossfire, but his feet were glued to the ground.

Then he heard Skye yell his name in the most horrific way he had ever heard. He looked around frantically to find her. Then he spotted her. She had no fire arms and Ward had grabbed her and dragged her away.

She kept calling for him; "Coulson!". _**\- "Coulson" –**_

He tried to free his feet, but they were completely stuck. _**– "Coulson" –**_

"Skye! Wait, no Skye!" _**– "Coulson!" –**_"No, Skye! Please, somebody save her!"

_**\- "Coulson!" – **_

His sleeping brain finally started to wake up a bit and registered that someone was saying his name outside of his dream, but he was not awake enough to consciously process it.

_**\- "Hey, Coulson" -**_ It was a female voice.

He felt his foot being touched through the covers.

Then his brain finally caught up with him and he registered someone standing at the edge of his bed.

The trained, seasoned field agent in him grabbed his gun from under his pillow and in one reflexive move had it pointed at the intruder in his room.

"Jesus, Coulson! It's me! It's me, Skye!" Skye yelled, though not too loud that it would wake up the entire base. Her hands were raised to show she had no bad intentions.

"What? Skye… What are you doing here?," he asked confused.

"Could you just… lower the gun please?", she asked as he hadn't lowered it yet.

"O, yes… I'm sorry," he put his gun onto the nightstand, "are you okay? Did something happen? Where is May?".

Now his brain was in full reality again. Had Hydra done something? Had they been compromised? Was everybody save?

"O no, nothing happened! And May is asleep, I guess," she reassured him quickly ", I just uhm…" she continued while insecurely looking down at her feet, "uhm… You know, it's nothing. I'm sorry for waking you up, I shouldn't have… I'll just go, so you can go back to sleep. Goodnight."

While continuing to look down to the ground, she turned around and began walking back towards the door. Though before she could even make her second step, Coulson had grabbed her by her wrist to prevent her from leaving.

"Skye, you've never come to me in the middle of the night before, so I don't believe that it is nothing," he told her with a soft voice, "please tell me what's going on."

"I… It's silly, really," she began.

Now he understood what this was about; "Nightmares?" he asked.

She hesitated , but then she nodded.

"I just… I had a dream about – you know, with Trip," she said quietly.

He kept looking at her face to try to read her and silently encourage her to go on, even though she was still looking to the ground.

"But instead of Trip," she continued ", it was you there with me in the temple and you… ," she choked on her words.

"I just came to check that you were still here," she said with trembling voice ", to see that you were still alive…".

His heart ached when she said that and he became overwhelmed with the need to pull her into his arms. So, he pulled her gently by her wrist to sit next to him on the edge of the bed and did exactly that.

She hugged him tightly for her own confirmation that he was in fact still there with a beating heart in his chest. A few of her tears started to fall.

"It's okay," he hushed ", it's okay. I'm still here. Nothing has happened to me. I'm safe – and you're safe. Shh, it's okay." He put his chin on the top of her head while his thumb from his right hand he had on her right shoulder moved soothingly back and forth.

They sat wrapped up in their hug like that for a few minutes. When she calmed down enough, she broke the hug. He kept one hand on her back, not wanting to break the contact completely.

They made eye contact and he smiled warmly at her.

She looked back down again as they sat in comfortable silence.

"Though I was kind of surprised at you're awesome, though slightly scary, reflexes, they're really not of much use, " she said suddenly.

"Is that so?" he asked, amused.

"Yeah, you know – they're fast once you wake up, but I could have easily shot you many times before that," she answered with a light smirk.

"Yeah," he sighed ", May has always said that I was tight sleeper. She always joked that killing me in my sleep would be extra, extra easy."

Skye chuckled. "I walked into May's room once while she was asleep… , "she said ", I'm never doing that again. I had just opened her door and set one foot into her room, before I got a ninja-star thrown at my head or something. I swear, it missed by like one inch or so."

"A ninja-star?" Coulson asked, while skeptically raising one eyebrow.

"Ninja-star, book, whatever, "she said ", all I know is it was fast and it missed me by this much." She demonstrated the distance with her thumb and index finger.

He let out a small laugh.

"Is everything okay?" Both of their heads shot up towards the door where May was standing.

"Speak of the devil," Skye said.

"I heard a yell. Is everything okay over here, Phil?" she asked with her rarer, though nowadays not as rare, soft and concerned voice.

She locked eyes with Coulson first, questioningly, and then with Skye as well.

Coulson was the first to answer; "Don't worry, May. Everything is fine. Skye just came to me after she had a particularly bad dream."

"And his defensive reflexive are, though sort of cool, too little too late," Skye added.

"Hey!", Coulson said.

"Didn't I tell you?", May smirked at him with her 'I told you so'-look, he had seen many, many times before.

Then she and Skye smirked at each other. May and Skye had become very close over the past few month and the way they had gotten in sync was very much beginning to show.

"You can stop looking at each other like that now. You better not team up on me," Coulson warned, though still jokingly.

"Don't worry AC, May would never hurt you," Skye assured him.

Coulson watched the hurt flashing over Mays face, as the both of them remembered what he had asked her to do if things had gone horribly wrong with him.

Skye didn't miss it either, but before she could start to wander if she had said something wrong, Coulson quickly said:

"I know, but I also remember the pranks she used to play on me. And I'm afraid that the two of you teaming up, won't mean much good for me!"

May snapped out of her thoughts.

"I can neither confirm, nor deny whether I am planning any pranks for you, with Skye. That is classified," May said with a semi-professional face.

"But_ I_ am the director!" he argued.

"In this case, that means very little to me, Phil", May answered playfully.

He had seen that look before too. This wasn't going to be good for him.

"O god," he said ", now I'm going to have to be looking over my shoulder everywhere I go for the next few weeks."

Skye chuckled a bit at their exchange and reference to their academy days. She wondered what the two of them had been like back then.

"Skye," May said, the seriousness returning ", if you can't sleep any more, you're welcome to join me for an extra early Tai Chi-session. Otherwise I'll see you in a few hours at 5:30, as usual."

May started to walk out of the room when Coulson asked; "Aren't you going to sleep then?"

She turned around and shot him a subtle 'seriously?'-look. He got what she meant. She was up because of her nightmares too. She often was.

"O, right. Same problem as here," he voiced her look.

May made eye contact with Skye again, then gave her a warm, reassuring nod and left the room.

Coulson and Skye sat in silence for a few seconds, before Coulson asked;

"Do you want to take May up on her offer or do you want see if you can still get some sleep?"

She thought it over for a few seconds.

"I _want_ to go to sleep," she said ", but I'm afraid the nightmares will come back…"

He looked at her with sympathy. He was feeling the same confliction at the moment. Also, he didn't want her to wake up thinking he was dead again.

"You know what, you can sleep here if you want," he offered.

She raised her eyebrow. "Wouldn't that be weird?" she asked.

"I have another blanket," he explained ", you can sleep under the covers, while I sleep on top of them with the blanket. May and I used to do that if either of us had nightmares or when we had to share a bed on missions."

Skye was touched that he would want to do that for her, just so she wouldn't have troubles with her nightmares. Nobody had ever cared for her like that before.

"Are you sure?," she asked none the less ", I don't want to steal your bed from you…"

He smiled.

"You're not," he answered. "I won't be able to sleep anyway, knowing you're having nightmares all alone in your bunk."

"Okay," she said ", also, I might not even be able to sleep in my own bed actually. I think I may have broken the frame when I generated a small earthquake in my sleep…"

"That's okay, Skye," he reassured her ", I'll ask Mac to look at it in the morning."

She nodded.

"Anyway, I'd actually been having nightmares about Ward taking you away before you woke me up, so I'd much rather have you here as well to be assured you're okay," he confessed.

Now it was her turn to show him sympathy. She hugged him again, though just briefly this time, like she had just before he had gone off to San Juan.

"Well I guess I will have to sleep here tonight to protect _you _against the monsters," she joked.

He chuckled. "I would appreciate that," he replied ", but in case _your_ monsters return as well," he said in full seriousness ", please wake me up immediately. You don't have to do it all alone. I'm here for you when you need me."

Skye nodded; "Thanks, AC."

"Any time, Skye."

He stood up to get his other blanket, while she settled under the covers.

When he returned to the bed, Skye was already vast asleep again. He smiled at the girl, who looked completely peaceful.

'His girl', he thought quietly in his head, as if it was a secret.

He set an alarm for Skye at 5:10, because nightmares or not, May would not be happy if Skye was late for Tai Chi. And neither would Skye.

Before he went to sleep too, he leaned over her and pressed a soft kiss into her hair.

"Goodnight, Skye," he whispered and then laid down to sleep peacefully through the rest of the night as well.


	4. Chapter 4

_So here's another story! Sorry it took me a while, but I had exams to study for:( Hope you like this one! (and please keep reviewing!)_

_DISCLAIMER: I (still) don't own this show or any of the characters_

* * *

It was so late, that some might already call it early when Skye woke up from her nightmare, bolting upright in her bed. Her shirt was completely soaked in sweat, as were her covers. She switched on her bed light and looked around her room, trying to force herself out of the lingering nightmare and ground herself in reality again.

Just when she started to get some grip again, she remembered that Trip really was gone. She then pulled up her knees and hugged them, while tears began to fall.

This had been happening to her often, lately. The dreams of Trip dying would be so vivid that she would wake up in cold sweat. Sometimes it would be Coulson or May instead of Trip. It followed the same pattern every time: she'd wake up with the terror of her nightmare still lingering, then realize that it was just a nightmare and for a second think that Trip and Coulson were okay; and then remembering that Trip was actually gone. Every time the latter happened, grief would hit her, just as strong as it had when she had seen his stone body crumble to pieces, disappearing into dust.

She cried for a few minutes, as she usually did.

All she wanted was to have Trip back. Wanted to see his infectious smile and hug him and never let go. But he was gone forever and it was her fault.

When she came down a little, she looked up and around her bunk. The Christmas tree had fallen over along with some of her pictures. On the floor lay shards of a shattered drinking glass and in her emotional state she felt anger flare up. Why hadn't she gotten a plastic one? Why did everything around her always have to break? Why did it have to be her that was cursed with this path of destruction following her everywhere she went? She had never believed in God anyway, but 'God loves all' had never sounded as much as a load of crap as it did now.

Nights were still the worst as far as generating quakes went. At day time she already had great difficulty controlling it, but at night, asleep with the emotional turmoil of her nightmares, she had no control whatsoever.

She stood up and put everything that had fallen over back in its place. Then she grabbed her laptop and went to sit on the couch. She didn't want to sleep anymore. If it were up to her, she'd never sleep again.

* * *

Coulson lay awake, staring a hole into his ceiling. The responsibilities of the job and worries about his team had been keeping him up for many, many nights. Only when he'd be so exhausted that he wasn't capable of staying awake, he would fall asleep quickly. But this wasn't such a night.

He'd been worrying about Skye. He knew she had been experiencing some PTSD and often had nightmares these days. He had heard her screaming down the hall in her sleep a few times. He had rushed to her room when that happened to wake her up from whatever she was reliving, like she had when he had been begging for death, strapped into Raina's memory machine.

He would sit on the edge of her bed and softly call her name to wake her up. When she awoke he would gently remind her of where she was and hush soothing words. It hurt him to see her like that, but she needed someone to help her through it and he would gladly be that person.

Sometimes, he would already find May sitting next to Skye, performing her own gentle routine of waking Skye up. At those nights he would grab another chair and they'd wake her up together. They'd watch over Skye when she went back to sleep.

That would only be for the first 15 minutes however, after which May would insist he get some sleep and that she would watch over Skye; there was of course no arguing with Melinda May.

Last time, he had looked back over his shoulder when he stood in the doorframe. His heart had swelled a bit when he had seen May ever so softly stroking Skye's shoulder and whisper things to her in Mandarin. He barely spoke any Mandarin, but he suspected she was whispering the lyrics of an old lullaby for children. He had smiled at the sight.

This wasn't such a night either, however. If it had been, he would have had an excuse to get up instead of laying here, staring at the concrete ceiling. He needed to get his mind off things, needed it to be quite in his head. How had he done that in the past? Things had always been bothering him at night, that's a sacrifice for the job, but surely he had been able to sleep then too.

"What calms me?" he thought out loud.

Then it hit him. His comics! He always used to read his comics when he was upset or couldn't sleep. He had done it as a kid and well through his academy days. May had always teased him for it, but he always suspected that she had actually found it endearing about him. Even as an adult, he had taken at least one comic along with him when he went on a long mission.

He had also taken some off his Captain America comics with him when they had first 'moved' into the Bus. He wandered if they were still there, but then again – why wouldn't they be? He hadn't had any awkward confrontation with May about them, as far as he could remember, so at least she hadn't taken them. Other than her, not many people came into his office.

He got up, put on his sweatpants and socks and started walking towards the Bus.

* * *

When Coulson he entered the living area of the Bus and closed the door behind him, he heard someone vaguely whimpering.

He walked towards the sound, to find Skye laying asleep on the couch with her laptop on her stomach with a picture of Trip on it.

"No, no – please," she started muttering in her sleep again.

He quickly walked around the couch and crouched down next to her. Her face was contorted in the agony of her nightmare. He closed her laptop and put it on the coffee table. He then crouched next to her and gently tried to wake her up.

"Skye," he softly called. She didn't respond and kept making sounds of distress.

"Skye, wake up," he called again, slightly louder this time while he gently brushed the hairs that stuck to the sweat on her forehead away.

When she still didn't respond, he softly squeezed her shoulder and called her name again.

Her muttering stopped and, still asleep, she turned on her side so she was now facing him. When she started to wake up, she suddenly opened her eyes. Upon seeing him, she inhaled sharply in surprise and involuntarily moved back a few inches.

"Hey, hey, it's just me," he soothed and moved his hand from her shoulder to her cheek.

"Ow, Coulson," she sighed in relieve. She let her head fall back into the cushions again and stared at the plane ceiling. She brought her hand up to her forehead to brush her hair back and then kept it there, taking deep breaths in and out.

He stroked her cheek with his thumb, while patiently waiting for her to come down from her dream and find her ground again. Minutes passed.

"Are you okay?" he asked after a while.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she said rather unconvincingly, while continuing to look at the ceiling. She wasn't fooling him.

"Skye," he said, showing her with his tone that he wasn't buying her act.

She turned her head to look him in the eyes. He looked at her intently with concern and understanding and she knew he could read her like a book. There was no use in denying she that she (obviously) wasn't okay, but none the less she ignored the implicated question and diverted the subject.

"Please tell me you didn't come all the way from your room to the Bus for my nightmares. I keep telling you it's no big deal," she lied. "Everybody has them and I can handle myself."

He let his hand slide down to her upper arm. He knew she was testing him unconsciously. Seeing how deep his loyalty went; if he would leave her if she pushed hard enough, like she probably feared. Also, he knew she probably felt guilty for him and May coming to comfort her in the middle of the night. That is the kind of empathic person she is, but he wasn't having any of her attempts to push him away.

"Firstly, it is a big deal. Even if _you_ are not admitting it, it is a big deal to _me_," he pressed. "Secondly, I know you can handle yourself, you're an incredibly strong young woman," he smiled. "But it doesn't mean you have to."

They held each other's gaze and he could see she had given in.

"Trip?" he asked. Her lower lip started to tremble and she nodded.

He sighed in sympathy and let his eyes do the talking for him. He knew that in moments like this, a look could express so much more than words.

"Scoot over," he said while he supported his words with a gesture that said the same.

She pushed herself up and folded her legs underneath herself, so he could sit down next to her on the couch. He circled his arm around her shoulder to draw her in and she relaxed her head on his chest.

They didn't talk. He knew what she had been dreaming about – she had told him many times before. His comfort and the thousand words spoken in their silence was all she needed right now. He didn't mind at all. Any time she'd let him hold and protect her, he'd take it. For the majority of the time he had to be 'Director Coulson' these days, and that didn't leave much room for his paternal feeling towards her. In moments like this he could his professional façade go - just be Phil and be there for her. He deeply treasured these moments.

"That was a nice picture you had of him on your laptop there," he broke the silence and mentioned with his head towards her laptop laying on the table. "I've never seen that one before."

"Thanks," she said softly. "I took it with my phone when were flying to Hawaii."

"Do you have more pictures from missions?" he asked. She nodded.

"You'd have to show me some those, some day."

She nodded again.

"So why were you up here anyway?"

"I was looking for some files," he lied, but she saw right through it.

"You were looking for _files_ in the middle of the night?"

"Yes, I just said that."

"Hmhmm," she hummed in skeptic fake-agreement. There was no way in convincing her of his lie.

"Okay fine, I was looking for my Cap-comics"

She laughed; "I knew it."

She lifted her head to look at him. Instead she noticed he had a small stream of blood coming from the cut on his forehead.

"O, you're bleeding," she stated and pointed towards his wound.

"What?" He dissociated himself from the hug and touched his forehead. When he looked at his fingers they were indeed red.

"Damn," he cursed.

"Wait, I have some tissues here." She reached behind her and got a tissue box from behind her. When he tried to grab it, she pulled it out of his reach.

"No, let me do it," she said and took a tissue from the box.

With a folded tissue the younger girl gently dapped away the blood coming from the opened cut. Coulson let out a short hiss when the tissue first made contact, but gave no further protest. She went through four tissues before the bleeding started to become less. Eventually she was just keeping the paper pressed to his head and he took it from there. She sat back in the couch.

"You should let Simmons redo the stitches."

"It's fine," he shrugged. "I'll ask her in the morning."

Skye finally took the time to observe him. Even though the fight he had with her father was a while ago, he still looked battered up. The bruises had turned from purple to a yellowish-green. It had hurt her so much to see him laying on the floor curled up in pain from the damage to his body that monster had inflicted. She had never wanted for any of this to happen and certainly not for Coulson to get hurt. Him getting hurt was one of her biggest fears, because on the list of the people she had gotten to care so much about, he was right at the top. Losing him would be unbearable.

"God, I'm so, so sorry."

"For what?" he asked confused. He had the gentlest voice, which he often had with her.

"For my dad hurting you. I should have shot him. When was hitting you – I should have shot him right then… I should have – "

"Stop, Skye, just – stop please," he interrupted her rambling. "I would never expect you to do something like that; to kill your own father. I'm fine now, I got out alive."

She sighed and a silence fell between them again.

"He sang me a song," she said suddenly. "My mother used to sing it. I'd been hearing it in my dreams, but could never put my finger on where I knew it from. It was strange, because no one, other than my mother apparently, has ever sung a lullaby for me before," she rambled on. "And he had put his hand on my shoulder, which was sort of weird too, but also – I kinda wanted to try it out, even though it felt wrong, him being a murderer and all… It felt wrong on one hand, and in some twisted way, I still wanted it, you know? I mean – God this sounds weird…" She took a breath to organize what she wanted to say. "I felt two ways at the same time. I wanted him to go away and never have anything to do with him ever again, but I also wanted his love, or something – I haven't ever had a parent before, so I kinda wanted to try it out to know what it felt like."

While she was telling him this, Coulson had turned his head down and was looking down at the floor and nodding along with her story. Skye misinterpreted this however as him being uncomfortable.

"I'm sorry," she apologized quickly. "I knew talking with you about this would be awkward. I shouldn't have said anything."

He looked up in confusion. Why would talking about personal things with him be awkward? He thought they had come to a level of trust where she was able to tell him almost anything. Had he been wrong or was this something they just weren't able to talk about?

"Why would it be awkward?"

"Because – you know…" Apparently he didn't know, because he still had his eyebrows pulled up in confusion.

"Like when adopted children start asking about their biological parents and wanting to find them and stuff… That can be awkward for the adoptive parents. I imagine at least. And you are practically like my – I mean not_ really_, you don't have like the paperwork or anything, I know that. But you know – you might as well be."

Wait, had she just indirectly compared him to an adoptive parent and herself to an adopted child? He cared a lot about her, loved her actually, but they had never been vocal about what sort of status their relationship held. Now that he thought about it, an unofficially adopted daughter quite accurately described how he felt about her.

"Skye?" he interrupted her ramble.

She stopped talking when he interrupted her and took a second to look at him. There was a mix of surprise and confusion in his eyes. Why would he be confused? Didn't he know what she was talking about? O god, he didn't feel that way about her. Disappointment and self-consciousness washed over her. She had been projecting her stupid need for a parental figure onto him this whole time and he hadn't even felt like that about her. How could she have been so stupid? She was just his agent and he came to check on her, because he was responsible for her as the director. Nothing more.

"O, you don't – forget what I said, I'm just tired and I'm rambling. You can just ignore what I said," she tried to backtrack. He noticed her misunderstanding and jumped in to correct it before she closed herself off completely.

"No, Skye, that's not – I've never heard you say it before, that's where my confusion came from." He cupped the side of her head again. "You never have to question what I feel for you. I care just as much for you as you do for me," he said with a reassuring smile.

But now that the apprehensiveness of the orphan inside her had surfaced she was slightly holding back in believing those words she had so desperately wanted to hear from him. When adults had said something similar to her as a child, they had never really meant it in the end. When things became inconvenient, they had simply left her behind at the orphanage again. So she learned then, that you should never just believe them when they said something like that. People often said things on an impulse.

"So, you do…?" she started to ask, but he interrupted her.

"Skye, you are like the daughter I never had."

Her heart swelled and tears started to form in her eyes. The daughter he never had! She hadn't read into it the wrong way after all. Her mouth opened to respond, to express she loved him too, but nothing came out, so he continued.

"And I wasn't looking down, because I felt awkward, but because I felt jealous. I know that he is you're real father and I would never deny you your right to get to know him, if you wanted to, but if it were up to me – I would shoot that bastard in the head so he could never touch you again. Me being director will sometimes make things complicated, but all those things you want from him – I can give you that. I could even sing you a lullaby if you wanted to. I don't think hearing me sing will lull anyone to sleep though, but I can try." She laughed at that.

"What I'm trying to say is; I'm here for you, as long as you'll need me and long after that, because I am never letting you go."

Her tears were threatening to fall. She got up on her knees and circled her arms around his neck. He smiled and eagerly returned the hug.

"You're like a father to me, AC. Way more than Cal will ever be. Just – don't leave me, please," she pleaded into his neck.

"No matter what happens, I will never leave you, Skye."

"Good, because I will quake the shit out of whichever garage Lola is stored if you ever do," she half-joked, because he knew she might actually do it.

"Noted."


	5. Chapter 5

_So here's a new chapter! It's been a while, but again: studying for exams:( (I know, even during Christmas holidays; it's absurt). This one is a bit more 'May-centered'. The show always plays into the Coulson-Skye relationship more stongly, but I've always felt (particularly in this season) that May and Skye have gotten a really strong and important bond as well. I just wanted to play into that a little more in this chapter. Hope you guys like it!_

* * *

It was still mostly quite when May walked through the hallways of the Playground after just finishing her morning Tai Chi session with Skye. She had really gotten used to the former SSR base and now actually thought of it as home. The Bus had felt like home too, but a real building on solid ground was always different. It felt more grounded, which she liked. The mobility of the Bus had been an attracting factor, like having a second home you could take with you everywhere you went. Also, she secretly felt like the Bus was still hers, as she was the main pilot and knew the plane inside out. One could compare it to having a car. A very large car, with beds, a lab (or now garage), a bar and the ability to fly. Maybe they should change the name to 'The Mother Lola' or 'Big Lola' or something. Maybe she would suggest it to Coulson if only to see the deeply offended look on his face. The corners of her mouth curled upwards ever so slightly at the fantasy as she walked along.

She had arrived at Coulson's office, knocked on the door and entered without waiting for an answer. Coulson never minded her entering without permission. She was his best friend and second in command; they were comfortable enough with each other that she could simply walk in and out, without being to formal about it. The only other person that did that as well was Skye. The knock she still did out of the common courtesy her mother had taught her as a child.

Despite it still being in the early hours of the morning, she wasn't surprised to see him already sitting behind his desk, fully dressed in his suit. He was wearing a black suit with a light-blue tie with subtle, thin grey stripes. It had been a gift of hers for his birthday many years ago, probably pre-Bahrain. It surprised her a little that he kept and wore it after all these years. She thought it still looked good on him.

He looked up from his paperwork and smiled at her.

"Hi"

"Hey"

"Done with Tai Chi?" He knew she must have just finished - she always came by his office after Tai Chi, but he still asked every morning.

"Yeah. Hunter had left a bit of a mess from his late night work out last night, so we had to clean that up first."

"Again? Bobbi said she would tell him to clean up after himself. He is like a rebellious kid sometimes – I swear to god, at times I wonder why we put up with him"

"It's okay, Phil. It wasn't that much to clean up anyway. I'll confront him myself about it."

He nodded in agreement.

"And I know Hunter's an annoying kid sometimes, but he's a good soldier and he is loyal when it comes down to crunch time. I wouldn't have though so of a mercenary, but you asked him because you saw something in him, not just because Bobbi vouched for him – you know that."

"I know, I know," Coulson waved her words away ", I'd just wish he wasn't so irritating sometimes."

She rolled her eyes and let out a small laugh.

Coulson hung back in his chair. A silence fell for a few seconds before he asked in a more careful, soft tone;

"So – how's Skye doing today?"

May looked up and into his eyes.

"She doing okay. She was acting normal at Tai Chi, only made a small tremor once and didn't get too upset about it. It's a good morning for her so far."

He nodded while maintaining eye contact with her.

"I think as long as the both of us keep being involved with her every day, she's going to be okay. As long as she doesn't drown in her own thoughts and fear. She can handle herself most of the time, but we need be there for her for the times she can't keep herself afloat, Phil. At least I know _I_ will."

"Yes, I absolutely agree with you. You've made her into such a strong, capable young women, but let's be honest – she still a kid. The things she had to go through with her father and seeing Trip d– loosing Trip. And now this new ability… It's a lot."

May sighed and nodded. He knew the feeling. It's been hard watching Skye struggle; hard for the both of them. They both cared so much for her.

"You know what she said to me a few nights ago?" he asked. It just occurred to him he hadn't even told her yet.

She shook her head; "No, tell me."

He smiled at the memory.

"She said that I was like a father to her. She even sort of compared me to an adoptive parent and herself the adopted child. I never expected to ever experience the feeling, but it made me so happy to hear her say that – and I know what you're going to say 'Phil you're the director, you have to compartmentalize more', but I don't care. I am never compartmentalizing with her, because you know what - she's like a daughter to me too. Like the daughter I never had."

May felt a big pang in her chest. Skye thought of Phil like a father? Well, it wasn't that much of a shocker now that she thought about it. Phil and Skye always had a special bond. She couldn't have denied that ever since the first few months Skye had come along with them on the Bus. She was happy for him, that he could have that bond with Skye. In this job, they don't get to have a family – to have children. This way, he could still experience that.

There was one overwhelming emotion. One she hadn't expected to feel: jealousy. She felt jealous that Skye only thought of Coulson as a parent. Then again, why would Skye feel about her like that? May wasn't oblivious; she knew she had never been the same warm person after Bahrain. Naturally Skye would feel more drawn to Phil as a parental figure. He was warm and companionate, which she hadn't been all that much for many years. It was still buried deep inside her though, and beginning to surface more and more these past few months. She thought that Skye had seen that side of her too. She had hoped that at least. Apparently, it hadn't been enough.

It had hurt her when Skye had hugged Coulson just before he had left for San Juan, but hadn't hugged her. Skye had even looked at her awkwardly, as if she assumed May would appreciate such intimacies, even if just to see it. But if May was honest with herself – she had wanted Skye to hug her then too. And she had definitely wanted Skye to hug her when Ward came to kidnap Skye and Raina, but apparently Skye just didn't feel that close or comfortable with her, which May could understand.

Her changed expression didn't go unnoticed by Coulson, and (like always) it was as if he read her mind.

"She cares a lot about you too, you know"

May scoffed a little.

"I'm serious, May – she may have been vocal about it with me, but don't let it fool you. She cares just as much for you as she does for me - Look at me, please"

She did as he asked. He sat upright in his chair and repeated with the most sincere and serious look;

"She cares _so_ much about you. I see it every day, even if you don't. She looks up to you and it means the world to her that you have let her see the _real_ you. She knows just as well as I do, that you don't do that for many people – Just because she hasn't been vocal about it, doesn't mean she doesn't care. You of all people should understand that."

May was moved by Coulsons words. He always knew what she was thinking and he always knew how to reach her. Maybe he was right – maybe her and Skye had grown that close together, like May thought they had. She wanted Skye to know how much she meant to her – even if that meant stepping out of her own comfort zone to express so. She would let Skye know.

"Thanks, Phil."

He smiled at her warmly, in a special way she had only seen him do with her.

"You're welcome."

* * *

Jab, jab, jab-cross, jab, jab-cross, right hook, left uppercut.

Skye kept hitting away at the punching bag. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw May entering the gym of the Playground.

"Hey, where have you been? I've been punching this bag for the last 15 minutes, since you weren't here! If this bag were Hydra by the way, I totally would have ended him by now, but I liked it better when you _see_ me ending basterd Hydra-punching bags. So – where were you, my SO?"

May rolled her eyes but suppressed a smile. Couldn't give too much away right at the beginning.

"I was talking with Coulson in his office."

"Ah – discussing highly classified S.H.I.E.L.D. secrets with the director, I got it." She said playfully. "Anything you want to share? Some juicy stuff maybe?"

"Nope," May answered, but Skye could still see the smile that ever so slightly played on her face, even though May tried to keep her pokerface on.

"Man, I never get to know about the good stuff," Skye fake-complained.

"I think you know way more about the 'good stuff' than you should have in the first place, so if you don't want me to go to Coulson to suggest your security clearance go down a few levels, I suggest you stop asking questions and keep punching that bag."

"Yes, ma'am"

Skye kept punching away at the bag a while longer, while May went over the schedule for the day. May took her time a little more than she needed to, just to watch Skye and admire how far she had come. Her technique was becoming better by the day. You wouldn't have been able to see much difference between Skye's skills and that of an agent, that had just graduated from S.H.I.E.L.D. academy. If she dared to think so, she thought the young girl reminded her of a younger, more innocent version of herself.

"I think we should practice some more close-combat today, so grab the mats so while I change quickly."

Skye nodded, took off her boxing gloves and went to lay out the sparring mats.

Fighting with May was still intimidating for Skye, even though they had done it many times and May would never _really_ hurt her. Skye considered herself a descent fighter these days, but with May she was still very much out of her league.

May returned in her workout clothes and removed her shoes before taking her position on the mats. They practiced combinations May had taught her and also simple evading maneuvers. Skye was holding up pretty well, considering she was fighting the combat master herself.

When May floored Skye for the third time, due to a simple beginners miscalculation, Skye's frustration boiled up to a max. At that point she had become very angry with herself. Skye jumped up again and landed on both two feet in one swift move.

However, the second Skye's feet hit the mats, a shockwave traveled from her feet outwards, catapulting May halfway across the room where she landed flat on her back.

Skye immediately ran towards her.

"I'm so sorry, May, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm-"

May groaned and opened her eyes to see Skye on her knees next to her with tears in her eyes. She tried to sit up. She didn't have any major injuries, just some minor pain in her back. Skye kept rambling and apologizing.

"Skye, it's okay. I'm fine, really – I'm fine, Skye."

"How can you say that? I just threw you across the room for God's sake!"

May assessed any further damage to her body, but found just some scrapes and light burn marks from sliding across the gym floor.

"Skye, it's just a few scratches – see?" May showed Skye her elbows to demonstrate to relative lack of damage.

"Yeah, but if I had thrown you against the wall you could have broken your ribs or your back, or-"

"Yes, but you didn't," May cut her off ", so there's no need to go to worst case scenarios that didn't even happen."

Skye stared at her and eventually nodded. It was only then that May noticed that the ground was still shaking around them.

"Skye, you're still generating an earthquake."

"I know," Skye sniffled. "But I don't know how to stop it."

May turned a bit more towards Skye and took both her hands.

"Remember the exercise we practiced this morning. Do it with me."

Skye thought back to their Tai Chi session of that morning and joined May in breathing deeply in and out. The quake started to seize, but May never let go of Skye's hands until they were completely gone.

"See, you _can_ control it if you focus. We can work on that if you want."

"Yeah, maybe that's a good idea."

May and Skye stood up. And May checked to see if Skye was physically okay as well.

"Well, I guess we'll skip close-combat for today and do an extra Tai Chi session later this afternoon instead. Sounds good to you?" May asked.

"Yeah, that's seems like a good call. I don't think the Playground can endure much more of my earthquakes."

They just stood there for a moment in the middle of the gym. May thought she'd just seize the moment.

"Skye, there is something I want to say, which I may not have made entirely clear in the past."

"Uhm, okay –" Skye said unclear of what May was driving at.

"I just want you to know, that whatever is going on, at whatever time or whatever place – I'm here for you. You can come to me in the middle of the night or call me from halfway across the world. If you're in trouble or just want to talk – I'm here. I don't say it to many people, but you mean a lot to me, Skye. I want you to know that – always."

Skye just stood there in awe with her mouth open. Never in a million years had she even dreamed of such a confession from this women. Coulson expressing his parental feeling for her had meant the world to her, but to hear such beautiful words from Melinda May was beyond compare. Her S.O. had begun to be sort of like a mother figure for her, much like Coulson a father figure, though still different as they were such different people – but Skye had never been sure to what extent their affection could be expressed. The communication between her and May had always been more of the silent type; Through body language and understanding looks, which she valued immensely, but hearing the words were definitely of a different caliber.

Skye didn't know how to answer this confession and ended up just nodding and smiling. After all, silent communication worked best for them.

May saw that Skye completely understood what she meant. With that, she accomplished what she set out to do and decided they would leave it at that for now. She laid her hand on Skye's shoulder for a moment and then turned around to leave the gym.

When May was halfway towards the door, Skye decided it was now or never;

"May"

May turned around to Skye to see the younger girl nervously shifting her weight from foot to foot.

"Could I maybe – give you a hug? If you don't want to it's totally fine. It's just - I've been kinda wanting to give you a hug but wasn't sure if you'd be okay with that - But it's okay if you don't, I completely understand-"

"Skye, it's fine."

"It's – what?" Skye was actually really surprised. She had half expected a questioning look from May and to just then drop the subject, never to be discussed again.

"I'd love to give you a hug, Skye."

At that point Skye almost ran towards May and through her arms around the older woman. It had been a while since May had last hugged somebody, so it took her a second to reciprocate. Once May had wrapped her arms around Skye as well, she held the young girl tight. Not as tight as Skye was doing, as she was almost chocking May a little, but this definitely wasn't a pity-hug May was giving her young trainee. May had missed this; this type of human contact.

May moved one hand to the back of Skye's head and took it all in the best she could. Out of the corner of her eye, May saw a figure, which very much resembled Phil Coulson, leave the door opening, disappearing into the hallway again. May smiled. She would have to thank him again; perhaps with a hug as well. Phil and her hadn't hugged in years either.

After standing like that for a while, Skye eventually let go. May looked into her eyes and smiled at her.

"See you this afternoon, then?" she asked her young protégé.

"Yeah" Skye nodded.

Skye walked back to the mats to tidy the gym up again.

"Ow Skye, if you're cleaning up anyway - clean up you're bunk too. I walked by there this morning, and it looked like a bomb had gone off in there. So, I expect your bunk to be clean when I just happen to casually walk by it in a few hours or there may be half an hour worth of pushups this afternoon added to Tai Chi."

Skye turned around and playfully gave an annoyed sigh;

"Okay, _mom_! Jeez -"

With a killer pokerface, which only Melinda May had mastered, she gave Skye a nod and turned around towards the door.

When May walked away, she smiled like she hadn't had in years. Of course Skye had been partly joking, but she now understood what Phil meant. This girl could make you feel so happy and appreciated in ways she had never expected to feel.

* * *

_So, that's it! Hope you liked it! Tell me what you think - reviews are (as always) much appreciated! _


	6. Chapter 6

_Here's another chapter for you guys. I've been getting so many excited reviews about the May-Skye stuff in the previous chapter, I decided to put it in this chapter as well. Also because I feel there is so much more to write about their relationship. Also, more [non- ]platonic Phillinda (I'll leave that to your own interpretation). I'm really happy with this chapter, hope you guys like it too!_

_DISCLAIMER: I (unfortunately, because I'd very much like to be rich,) do not own any of this amazing show or the characters._

* * *

"Ready?"

Skye takes one last breath and gives May a nod. They had agreed they would start working on controlling Skye's new found earthquake abilities. After some struggling to get the right ideas on paper, Fitz and Mac had managed to modify the Cage so that it could be used for Skye's practice. A small platform on highly robust shock breakers had been installed, on which she could stand to safely generate quakes, which could not get out of that room. The platform was caged in with a see-through grid of titanium-alloy wiring with magnetic shielding properties, which reached from floor to ceiling, to keep potential shockwaves confined to the space of the platform. A few white panels had also been fitted to the walls to break the 'honeycomb-killroom' vibe, which Simmons had suggested to make the room less claustrophobic since May and Skye could potentially be spending a lot of time there. Now that Skye was standing on the platform, she thanked Simmons' genius mind for that brilliant suggestion, because that room had been stress-enhancing enough as it was. Now it was at least a bit more bearable.

"Okay. Let's start off with a mild quake, if you can manage that," May told Skye.

This was actually not hard at all. All Skye had to do was let go of the very small amount of control she could manage and had to keep clenched up all day long. Similarly to when you need to cry, but only let go once you're in the privacy of your own room.

As soon as Skye let go of her control, the platform automatically started vibrating. Fitz' platform worked perfectly, letting only the plateau she was standing on vibrate, but not the rest of the room. Despite this fact, Skye's level of fear immediately shot up a few nudges. People only got hurt when she generated quakes.

"Yes, that's a perfect start," May tried to bring her back to reality.

"Now, just look at me and do the breathing exercise with me."

She looked at her S.O. and did as asked. The meditative breathing on its own was enough to let the vibrating of the platform quite down. As soon as the vibrations had stopped, Skye locked them down under her control again and let out a relieved sigh.

"How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine. That one went well I think."

May kept a close eye on the composure of her young trainee to see how she was holding up. If she believed it was too much for the girl, she would immediately pull the plug. Of course she would have done so herself, but Coulson had also come to her to press for it. She had assured him that she wouldn't let anything happen to Skye. Coulson would have come to see the progress himself via camera feed, but had been called away by Bobbi to assess something urgent and May had assured him that she and Skye would be fine on their own.

"Let's try to generate a more powerful one. Could you maybe think of something frustrating or something that angers you, but not so angry that you might punch something. We want a bit more powerful, not a quake that is through the roof in magnitude."

Skye took a deep breath.

"Okay, I'll try."

She thought hard. There were so many things that made her angry lately, but at that moment her mind was quite blank. Why did that always happen? She hated her scumbag-brain sometimes. It felt like her unconsciousness was laughing at her like 'come and get me!'.

Due to this frustration in itself, Skye unexpectedly started to generate an earthquake which was moderate in intensity, which (in all honesty) already scared the crap out of her.

May immediately noticed Skye fear's and shock over the unexpected earthquake.

"Hey, hey – just keep looking at me," May tried to snap her out of it.

"Just breath."

Again, Skye did as she was told. Breathing deeply in and out, focusing on only the breathing itself. This time, the quaking lowered significantly in intensity, but did not go down completely.

After a few minutes, the quaking had still not stopped and Skye started to panic a little. Again, May noticed in a second.

"Skye, calm down."

"I'm trying, but it's not working!" Skye panicked.

"Do you trust me?"

That question threw her off, but was easy to answer.

"Yes."

"Then focus on your breathing and do the movements with me."

May started doing the fluent movements they had been practicing every morning over the past few weeks. It was an exercise both she and Skye knew by heart.

Moving along with May, Skye managed to get into the meditation deeply enough to fully stop the shaking.

Once completely quite again, Skye stumbled a bit and had to grab the metal wiring for stability. Getting her quakes under control was quite draining for her. Much more so than she had expected.

Her stumble alarmed May and she moved closer to inspect the girl further.

"I think that is enough for today. That was a very good start. I'll ask Trip if he can open the Cage and –"

As soon as May said it, she realized her mistake. She had meant to say 'Mac', not 'Trip', but Skye's eyes showed that the damage was already done.

The second May had said Trip's name, so unexpectedly, Skye fully flashbacked to the temple. It was like she was there all over again. Encapsulated in rock, unable to move - when she finally opened her eyes to be faced with her dear, happy-go-lucky friend turned to stone… Her sweet, heroic Trip – dead because of her…

While Skye was way deep in her flashback, violent earthquakes had started to erupt and the platform was shaking heavily on its base. The quakes were so strong that May had needed to jump back. Skye seemed to have no conscious perception of her surroundings.

"Skye! Focus, Skye! You need to snap out of it!"

No response came from her trainee.

"Skye, you need to listen to me! It's not your fault! Focus on my voice, Skye!"

Still no sign came from the girl that she had registered her S.O.'s words. She was just standing there, staring off into the distance – frozen in trance. Meanwhile, the quakes became even more intense.

May grabbed the I.C.E.R. she had stuck in the top of the backside of her jeans and fired a shot towards the ceiling, hoping the loud noise would snap Skye out of it.

Still no reaction.

May saw no other option. She walked closer, pointed the I.C.E.R. through the wiring - and fired.

* * *

When Skye opened her eyes, she was greeted by the familiar sight of the ceiling of her bunk on the Bus. She had a major headache. While rubbing her eyes, she stretched her limbs.

Then she remembered what had happened. The Cage, May, quakes – Trip.

Trip.

Her hands started shaking again and she shot up in her bed.

"Shit! No, no, no –"

Upon Skye's sounds of distress, May immediately appeared from around the corner of her bunkdoor and sat down on the chair that was already standing next to her bed.

Without saying a word, May grabbed her hands and gently held them, rubbing both her thumbs back and forth on the back of Skye's hands.

Within a minute, sitting like this in silence, Skye's hands had returned to their resting state.

Skye just gave May a simple nod to reassure her that she was fine now and the both of them simultaneously, without hurry pulled back their hands.

The silence between them stretched out a little longer. Skye had now pulled her legs up on her bed and crossed them, while staring at her hands where she had laid them in the middle of her crossed legs. May had not moved.

It was May that broke the silence.

"I'm sorry shooting you with the I.C.E.R., Skye. I saw no other option."

Skye hadn't actually thought of how she had ended up in her bunk, but being shot with an I.C.E.R. certainly explained both that and her headache.

"That's okay. I understand – I would have done the same thing."

"Also – I'm sorry."

"Uhm – you just said that."

"Yes, but I'm sorry for what I said that had to _lead _to me shooting you."

Skye was surprised. She held no anger towards her S.O. for what had transpired just hours before. It was an accident, she knew that.

"Hey, don't be! It was an accident, I know that. I know you would never do something like that on purpose – it was a slip of the tongue."

"Yes, but slip of the tongue or not – I know how bad that can be. To be confronted with it, without warning."

Skye was both moved and bit confused. Moved that the normally so closed-off women, would admit that to her; confused, as she did not fully get what her S.O. was referring to. Did she mean Bahrain? She kept looking intently at May, as she took a deep breath and continued.

"Around the time Coulson asked me if I would join his team on the Bus, I was working in administration. I believe Coulson has told you why. After… Bahrain – I wasn't able to work in the field anymore, so I requested a desk job. I wasn't exactly happy, but at least I wasn't on the edge of suicide either. I was content with my decision."

May paused, to form the words she wanted to say in her head. Skye didn't dare interrupt.

"Phil – Coulson, he was there for me when Bahrain had happened. We were a team, partners – he was my closest friend. He always tried to give me space, but still keep me close. He hadn't liked it when told him I requested the desk job, had even tried to persuade me to stay with him in the field - but he understood why I couldn't. I couldn't function out there anymore - but had I stayed in the field, we probably would stayed partners for many, many years. We had always been the best team in our clearance level, even though we regularly screwed up our missions. Ever since we met at the academy, we found that we both were at our best together."

May smiled at the memory of the younger versions of herself and Phil. Though her smile faded when she thought of what she actually had wanted to share with Skye.

"I was still working in my desk job when I got the news Coulson had been killed in action when he was working with the Avengers on the Helicarier. It broke me completely."

Skye let out a small gasp at the mentioning Coulson's death. Of course she knew had died and been brought back from the dead, but she had never thought about the period when people that cared about him thought he had died – what that must have been like. What that must have like for May.

"I blamed myself. Had I not insisted on that stupid desk job, we would have still been a team, I would probably have been there with him. I could have protected him, I –"

May took a second to compose herself for what she wanted to say next.

"It was two week later that Fury told me Phil wasn't dead. For two whole weeks – I thought that the person I cared most about in the whole world had died. And it was my fault, because I hadn't been there to protect him. He had given me his all, and I even hadn't been able to just be with him. Fighting along his side."

Skye didn't know what to say. Nobody should ever have to endure that. She wanted to wrap her arms around the older woman, but noticed that her story wasn't finished yet.

"In those two weeks, I heard people mention his name in passing. I would have to run to the nearest bathroom to throw up – that's how distraught I was. When I came home one night, about a week after I had first gotten the news, my eye fell on an envelope with Coulson's handwriting on it. I would recognize it anywhere. In it was a short letter with a picture."

May lifted the left side of the butt off the chair and removed a piece of paper from her back pocket. She gave it to Skye. It was a picture showing a few years younger, more slender Phil Coulson on the foreground, with a ridiculously big grin on his face, pointing his finger to the side in front of his chest to where it showed Captain America standing about 5 meters behind him.

"Maria Hill – I don't know if you've met her – took the picture. She was the one that had sent his letter to me after his death. In his letter he wrote about how exited he was to finally meet his hero and that he was going to ask him to sign his cards. But even though he had just met his childhood hero when he was writing that letter – most of the letter was about him asking about how I was doing, and that we should get together again sometime…"

A small smile appeared on Skye's face at the story of this man's sentiment and warm-heartedness, she knew all too well. She also smiled at the fact, that he had chosen to send an old-fashioned letter with a picture, even though the date at the bottom said '2012'.

"That was the first time I had cried since the weeks after Bahrain. It was so unexpected and hit me in ways I never imagined possible."

Skye tried to give May back the picture, but she didn't take it.

"No, I'd like you to keep it. Trip is not going to come back – I wish I could make him come back, but I can't. I _can_ promise you however, that it gets better. My friend may have come back to me, but that doesn't take away that - I lost him. My best friend died, and that still hurts, even though he is here now – I'm still dealing with that loss. I've lost other people as well and there is one thing I found I could rely on: it is hard, but life goes on and it always gets better. You don't have to forget him, but you don't have to torture yourself either with constantly trying to keep him alive in your mind by thinking about him. Look at me –"

Skye looked up and into May's eyes.

"It is not your fault," May told her, laying emphasis on every word.

Skye nodded.

"No, I want you to hear this really clearly. It is _not_ your fault. I know, you may know that in a logical sense, but you don't feel that yet inside. You won't feel it now, right away – _I_ still don't feel it inside, even though I know 'logically' that Phil's death wasn't my fault… I want you to keep that picture to remind you of what I just told you – and to try to honor Trip's life by living your own to the fullest."

Skye had the most moved, and understanding look on her face as she stared at Mays eyes. It felt like the both of them were one at that moment.

May look Skye's hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. While maintaining eye contact, May gave Skye a small smile and Skye reciprocated.

"I'll see you at dinner," May said. She then stood up and left Skye's bunk.

For a few minutes, Skye didn't move as everything May had told her still played through her head. She looked at the picture again and turned it over. On the back two things had been written in different handwritings. She guessed the top text had to have been from Coulson, as it read: _'Me with Cap!'_. Then the bottom text, had the unmistakable graceful letters from her S.O.: _'It gets better.'_.

* * *

Phil Coulson sat behind his desk, with his sleeves rolled up and his tie loosened. After the stunt Hydra had pulled in Europe that morning, he had been talking with allies overseas all day long and was now left with tons of paperwork. Though he was honored to be director (and was secretly fanboying over it inside every day), the massive amounts of paperwork was something he definitely would have much rather gone without.

He stood up and walked towards one of the filing cabinets to search for some old files. Just as he had found the right drawer, he heard his office door being opened without knock first and then closed again. He turned around and found Melinda May standing there in his office.

"Hey, I was just about to call you. I heard about what happened with Skye. Is she okay? How is she doing?"

He turned back towards his files and expected her to fill him in, while he was searching. May just kept silent, however.

He turned back around when she didn't answer. He only then noticed she wore the most fragile, sad look on her face, which immediately alarmed him. He laid down the files he was holding.

"What's wrong? Is something wrong with Skye?"

May didn't answer, just slowly took a few steps towards him, until she was standing so close to him that she had to look up to remain eye contact.

"May, please tell me. Is something wr- "

He didn't get to finish his sentence, as she took the last step towards him and wrapped her arms around his middle.

Coulson was so blown away by her actions, that for a moment he remained frozen. They hadn't shared a hug in many years – probably not since Bahrain. Let alone a hug that _she_ initiated. When his brain was fully caught up, he gently, but firmly wrapped his arms around her as well.

He felt her let out a sigh while she relaxed her head on his chest. They stood like that for a while, just taking each other in.

"May, what's –"

Again, he didn't get to finish.

"You're here."

He didn't understand where this was coming from, but nonetheless he was _so_ glad it was happening. He had wanted to hold her so many times over the past year.

"Don't ever leave me again, Phil. I can't lose you a second time," she pleaded against his chest.

He let out a sigh. This was not the first time they had had this conversation. They had been in many dangerous situations together in the course of their carrier. In some encounters they had found themselves hanging over the very edge between life and death. Afterwards they had cried sometimes, other times gotten drunk or just held each other for hours on the couch in one of their apartments. Sometimes it had been a combination of all three. They had often asked the other to promise never to get hurt again or die, but in their line of work, that was not a guarantee they could give. They wouldn't be able to do their jobs properly.

"I can't give you that promise, even though I want to with all my heart – you know that."

Now it was her turn to sigh.

"But I _can_ promise I will try my very best, because I don't ever want to leave you again, either."

* * *

_So, that's it for this chapter! I hope you liked it! Please let me know with a review, because they are very, VERY much appreciated!_


	7. Chapter 7

_Here it is: the next chapter! It is a little bit different from the previous ones, as I've incorporated almost all of the characters of the team. But still lots of feels of course! I set up a small storyline with a certain 'evil' character here, which I'm not planning to do a lot with in future chapters (though I will use it of course), unless you guys are very excited about it, in which case you should let me know by reviewing and I will incoporate it more than I am planning to do now ;) I plan to keep my chapters more relationship focussed and one-shotty (as they are now), so that's why I wasn't planning on a big '[certain evil character]'-storyline. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter!_

_DISCLAIMER: Nope, still not my show or characters._

* * *

It was a quiet afternoon at the Playground, which was extremely rare these days. Hydra had been laying low, all inventory had been done and everybody had done their training sessions for the day. This left the team with their afternoon completely open. How better to spend it, than with a bit of friendly team bonding.

"Hey! Who hit me with the green shield? That's not fair, I was stuck in the grass already!"

"All is fair in love and Mario Kart, Hunter" Skye replied with a smug grin.

They were sitting in the living area in front of the TV, focused on their own karts on the 4-way splitscreen. Skye had teamed up with Mack and was sitting next to him on the couch and Hunter had formed a team with Fitz. Simmons had grabbed a chair and mostly enjoyed simply watching the others race and sometimes switched with Skye to do a race for her.

Hunter grunted in frustration as he watched his position drop all the way down to 14th place, as Toad spun round in his cart a few times because of the hit.

"Come on, Fitz! Take her down! It's for justice, mate!" Hunter encouraged his Kart-teammate.

Fitz motor skills had been improving more and more in the last few week and it was now finally beginning to show, as he had steadily been finishing in the top three. He was now in second place, as Skye had just passed by him and running in first place.

"I know, I'm working on it. I just waiting for the perfect opportunity to – Uhm… The perfect opportunity to –" Fitz struggled while being intensely focused on the race.

"Pass her? Hit her? Bump her?" Mack tried to fill in for him, but as kind as that was, Fitz had been searching for less civil words;

"Crush her to the ground, where she can wallow in defeat."

"Fitz!" Simmons exclaimed involuntarily at such unexpectedly aggressive words from her dear friend.

Hunter laughed and gave him a quick pat on the shoulder.

"Now that my mate!"

"Bring it then! See if you can catch me!" Skye challenged him.

Skye managed to maintain her top position for another full lap, but just half a lap before the finish, Fitz strategically threw a banana peel ahead of his kart, so that Skye couldn't avoid it and slipped. As Skye watched her kart with baby Daisy in it spin, Fitz's Bowser raced by her, finishing in first place.

After everybody had finished, Hunter jelled at the sweet revenge.

"Nicely done, mate!"

Hunter held up his hand for a high five, which Fitz reciprocated after a slight hesitation due to his surprise.

"In. Your. Face!" Hunter exclaimed and pointed at Skye.

"Okay, okay, I admit it. That was a pretty good comeback, Fitz. I have to say." Skye admitted. "You and team Hydra can be proud of yourselves."

"What? Just because we are the red team that means we are Hydra?" Hunter pretended to be offended.

"Well, since we were the blue team and you red, it seems pretty logical to me that we were team S.H.I.E.L.D. and you team Hydra," Skye grinned.

Hunter turned around to Fitz.

"Don't listen to her, mate. She's just jealous."

Mack laid his controller down next to him.

"Well, jealous or not, you drove one hell of a race, girl." Mack held his fist up and Skye bumped it with her own.

"Thanks,_ S.H.I.E.L.D- _agent Mack."

"It's all jealousy, I'm telling you – " Hunter kept muttering to Fitz a bit longer.

Mack got up to get some glasses and soda for everybody. The rest slacked on the couches to recover a bit from the intense race.

"Where did we get the Wii from? " Simmons asked.

"Who knows," Skye answered. "All I know is that Billy was playing on it one day. Said he secretly took it from his brother. God know which brother…"

Mack came back with the glasses and soda and sat down again.

"Okay, let's take a quick break and then we can show you who the _real_ bosses are," Mack said.

"In your dreams, Mack," Fitz replied at which Mack laughed, friendly.

Hunter looked at the soda in disappointment.

"Don't you have anything stronger?"

"It's like two in the afternoon!" Skye exclaimed.

"Whatever. So unfair…" Hunter mocked in self-pity, while he poured some soda for himself.

Unfortunately, before they could even finish their glasses, their relax-time was interrupted. Bobbi had walked into the room and she was not there to join them in the fun.

"Hey," Mack greeted her when she entered the living area. "Here to join me and Skye in crushing Hunter?"

Bobbi smiled, though just briefly, as she was there for business.

"As much as I would enjoy that, I'm afraid we don't have time for it. Coulson wants everybody in his office. Now."

Everybody got what that meant. Duty was calling, or better yet; the director was calling. They immediately shut off the Wii and put the controllers back to where they belonged. Hunter was the only one that was slightly protesting.

"It's like she can sense it or something. Every time I'm remotely gaining self-confidence or winning in some capacity, she'll come in an ruin it for me. I am also a bit surprised though," he went on explaining to Fitz, who did not really want to hear it, but was too polite to say so.

"Normally, any chance she gets to show me who's boss, she'll take it. We were on this undercover mission once, and I had had to watch her walk around in this sexy dress all night. The gentleman that I am of course, I was nothing but courtly with her. But once we were in the wardrobe searching through the coats of the guests, she pushed me against the wall and- "

But before Hunter could finish that story, Bobbi had turned around and shot him a look that could kill by the dozen. Hunter pretended to be completely naïve by pulling up his shoulders and mouthing 'what?' at her, but Bobbi saw right through that, which he knew so he decided it was best to zip it.

"Perhaps a story for another time, mate."

Fitz nodded, but was secretly hoping that 'other time' would never come.

* * *

"Is everybody here?" Coulson asked.

May was already in the office with Coulson. The last person to come through the door was Mack, who then closed it behind him.

"Yes, everybody is here, Sir," Bobbi answered.

"Good. May, on the big screen please?"

May nodded, and tapped a few times on the tablet she was holding, which resulted in the projection being transferred to the big screen on the wall of the office.

"I've brought all of you in here, because I think that concerning this subject it's important that everybody knows."

"Knows what?" Skye asked.

Coulson didn't answer, but made a hand gesture towards May, who then tapped on her tablet again.

On the big screen appeared a slightly blurred image, which had the unmistakable time marks of a security camera feed on it. The image showed a tall white man and an Asian woman robbing what appeared to be a store. They are both wearing bandana's which were tied so that it covered their mouths (western style). They both had guns pointed at the cashier. Strangely, it also appeared the man held a potted plant he was going to steal as well.

"A robbery? That's what you wanted everybody to know? That there are still people in the world robbing stores?" Skye asked in confusion.

Coulson made eye contact with Skye, but did not elaborate. Instead he looked at May again.

"May, could you zoom in and clear it up a little?"

May did as he asked. She zoomed in on the faces and after a few seconds, while the computer processed, the images became clearer as well.

Everybody that was now seeing the picture for the first time took a step closer towards the screen to see if they could identify the robbers.

Simmons was the first to notice what was so special about the robbers and gasped;

"O my God!"

"What's so- " Skye choked on her words mid sentence, when she saw it too. "That's- Ward…" she stammered in confusion.

Now everybody else gasped too, as they finally recognized the man that had betrayed them.

"But- I shot him like _four _times! How is that possible?"

"We don't know," Coulson answered. "This is the first sighting of him since San Juan. Also, it appears that he has found a partner. And not just any partner."

May opened another image, which showed the face of the woman more clearly. Not is was visible that she had a major scar across her left eye and resembled a woman they knew very well.

"Agent 33," Hunter said.

"With the freaky fried-May face," Fitz suddenly said from the back of the room.

Everybody slowly turned around towards Fitz, all with an eyebrow pulled up at the sudden comment from the young engineer.

"Uhm – that's what the – uhm – Koenigs call her, Sir. It's- never mind."

Self-consciously, Fitz looked down to the ground in the hope that people would quickly turn back around and forget his embarrassing comment.

Coulson shook his head (more to himself than Fitz) and returned his attention back to the screen.

"It appears to me that this robbery had a double function. Firstly, robbing the store allows them to stock up on supplies. If he's on the run, he won't have many resources. Secondly, I think he choose to rob a story, where he knew were security camera's to get our attention. To let us know he was still alive. May, could you play the whole clip?"

Again, May tabbed on the tablet and the clip of the robbery started playing.

It looked like a typical robbery. The clip had no sound, but you could sort of read the lips of the cashier. Agent 33 and Ward enter the store. Ward fires one shot towards the ceiling and probably yells that 'it is a robbery'. Then Ward threatens the cashier and agent 33 goes into the store. She comes back with some supplies and the plant and Ward appears to instruct the cashier to take out all the cash. While the cashier is taking out the money, Ward looks around the store and then, suddenly, he looks up and right into the camera. He keeps looking into the camera for a few seconds, then look down again and goes on with the robbery. Once they have the cash, they run out of the store.

May pauses the video.

"See the way he looked into the camera? I suspect that was for us. To let us know he is still out there."

"So what do we do?" Simmons asked.

"Right now, I don't know. I will have to make a plan for how to approach. I felt that for now, it was important for everybody to know about this information. Once I've formed a plan, you will all be informed."

Everybody nodded, but made no motion to leave Coulson's office again. Coulson decided to give his team a little push;

"As you were."

Everybody start moving towards the door.

"Not you Skye, there's something else I want to discuss with you."

Skye turned back around, intrigued as to what Coulson would want to discuss with her. They wait until it's just Coulson, Skye and May left in the room. May walks towards the door and closes it.

"So, what's up?" Skye asks.

"There's something else we didn't show the others. We're only going to show this to you," May answers.

"Okay…"

May puts the first picture back up. This time, she doesn't zoom in on the faces, but on the plant Ward is holding. When May clears the picture back up again, Skye sees what they wanted to show her.

It isn't just a plant: they are daisies.

Shocked, Skye's mouth falls open, while she looks at May and then at Coulson, whom she asks;

"But how could he know? My fath- Cal only said that to _me_. And you heard it obviously, but Ward couldn't have. He was halfway across the building!"

Coulson sighs in defeat.

"I don't know, Skye, I really don't. Maybe Cal mentioned it to him by accident or maybe Raina told him, but I can only guess."

Skye felt a bit weak in the knees and sagged down onto the couch, which was standing close by.

"I just don't get it," she continued, now with her elbows on her knees and head in her hands. "First I shoot him and now he's back out there robbing stores with agent 33 and leaving messages for me."

Coulson went to sit down next to her and May grabbed a chair and sat down in front them.

"And what does that _mean_, that he has the daisies? I mean – obviously he wants to get my attention and to let me know that he knows what I am, but… Does that mean he still hasn't given up in his diluted idea, that I will suddenly realize he's actually a good guy and will fall head over heels in love with him? That's insane! He keeps doing the same old tricks, trying to gain my trust, expecting a different outcome – the very definition of insanity! Why do I attract all these psycho-men? I didn't ask for any of this!"

Coulson placed his left hand on her back and moved his thumb back and forth, while May placed her hand on Skye's knee as well.

"We won't let him get to you, Skye" May reassured her. "And you're not going to let him get to you either. I taught you better than that."

Skye lifted her head and looked at May and Coulson and smiled at them. She then sighed;

"I should have stabbed a knife between the ribs the first time he kissed me. Then I wouldn't have had to deal with this crap and- "

But she couldn't finish her sentence, because May and Coulson exclaimed in unison;

"When he _what_?!"

Skye's face turned completely pale, as she realized that they apparently didn't know about that yet.

"Whoops…" Skye said, dragging out the 's', whishing she could go straight through the couch and floor to disappear.

Coulson and May looked at each other, both with the exact same expression on their faces. It seemed they were silently strategizing how to handle the situation.

"What do you mean 'whoops'? Were you planning on telling us about this, ever?" May asked her in a tone which betrayed that she was obviously struggling not to lose control over her emotions.

Skye felt like a kid who got caught with their hand in the cookie jar.

"Well… I told you _now_ didn't I?"

The look on May's face told her that wasn't the right answer, if there even was a right answer.

"I thought you guys knew!"

"How could we possibly have know if you didn't tell us?" Coulson asked, very much matching May's tone.

"Well… Because you had seen me leaving with him on the security camera history, I expected that you had seen the kiss too…"

Now both May and Coulson were really lost.

"Wait- so he kissed you at Providence?" Coulson asked further.

"Yes," Skye answered. There was no use in holding anything back now. "Eric was somewhere else. I later found out that Ward had already killed him… We were talking about Ward's childhood and one thing led to another and he kissed me. You didn't see any of this?"

Coulson shook his head.

"Ward had disabled almost all camera's, except for the one for the hanger door," May filled in for him.

Now Skye understood as well. She was actually sort of relieved that these two parental figures in her life hadn't seen her kiss that bastard. That would have been really awkward for all of them. It was a mistake and thankfully it was not immortalized on video.

"So _he_ kissed _you_. Please tell me you didn't kiss him back and pushed him away immediately," Coulson asked with a face that screamed he was desperate for it not to be true.

"Uhm… Well, the first time I did kiss him back, but the second time it was more-" But again Skye was cut off.

"The _second_ time?!" Coulson exclaimed. "You are saying that you kissed him at least twice?!"

Skye searched desperately for support from May, who showed her she was on Skye's side now.

"Phil, calm down."

Coulson opened his mouth to continue his yelling spree, but Skye decided to step in herself and set everything straight once and for all.

"A.C., let me finish! I kissed him _twice_. The first time I kissed him back, because I didn't know he was Hydra. Once I found out a little while later, _I_ kissed _him_ another time so he wouldn't be suspicious. I was trying to buy _you_ time to find me!"

That got Coulson to stay quite. The second kiss was a smart move, he couldn't argue with that. It did buy him the time to save her. He didn't know what he would have done if he hadn't been able to do so, but he couldn't even think about such scenarios and pushed them out of his mind. He took a deep breath and laid his hand on Skye's knee in an attempt to show her so.

"I'm sorry, Skye. I don't know what came over me. That was indeed a very difficult and smart move of you, to gain his trust like that."

To his surprise, instead of being angry with him Skye gave him a comforting smile.

"It's okay, A.C."

They sat in silence for a little while, before Coulson continued.

"Well, we'll keep him on our radar, so he has no chance of ambushing us or you in any way."

Skye nodded.

"Maybe you can start monitoring camera's in the area where the robbery took place, to see if maybe he messed up somewhere. By accident or on purpose."

"Okay," Skye said and stood up. Coulson stood up as well and walked her to the door where he opened it for her. Before she could walk through he laid his hand on her shoulder to stop her momentarily.

"And don't worry, Skye. We'll get that son of a bitch – whatever it takes."

"Wow, A.C. is going thug!" Skye teased him. He couldn't help but smile at that. Then, a bit of her seriousness returning, she said;

"Thanks, A.C."

Coulson squeezed Skye's shoulder lightly to express some of his underlying emotions and he saw she understood. Skye then left and he closed the door behind her. When he turned around, he noticed the large grin playing on May's face while she looked him dead in the eye.

"What?" he asked while walking back towards the couch.

"Hmm? Nothing," she said while shaking her head and very minimally trying to hide her grin.

"Clearly." He sat down. "Come on, May. Spit it out."

"You went full on 'angry dad' with her, Phil."

He looked at her and pretended to be deeply offended.

"Me? Look who's talking!"

She managed to put on her classic Melinda May-stoic face.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Come on," he teased her. "You were yelling just as loud as I was."

The grin returned to her face.

"Look what's become of us, Phil. We were yelling at her like she was our teenage daughter that had snug off through her window to be with her secret boyfriend," she said shaking her head in disbelieve.

He sported the biggest smile.

"I know, isn't it great?"

* * *

_So, that's it for this chapter. I hope you liked it! Also, let me know if you'd like a more elaborate 'Ward'-storyline or not. As always: please review, because they are very much appreciated!_


	8. Chapter 8

_I'm sorry for the wait, but here is the new chapter. I got a bit inspired by the new 2x11 promo. If you haven't seen it, I definitely recommend you watch it (because it looks soo awesome! Don't worry, the are no major spoilers of anything is this chapter! *Also, I interpreted the presence of certain people different in the clip, than in this story. I hope you enjoy your reading!_

_DISCLAIMER: Nope, still don't own them (= show + characters)_

* * *

"Wait, wait- just explain it to me one more time, because I still don't fully get it."

Skye and Fitz were hanging around in the garage in the hanger of the Playground. More specifically, Skye was hanging around Fitz while he worked on some kind of small device the size of a computer mouse. He had been working on it for quite some time now and Skye had been joining him for company while he worked more and more often. Out of all the people on the Playground Fitz was probably (besides May) the person that understood best what it was like for her to go through this change. Against all odds, they had bonded over the fact that they were now, though in different ways, broken people. Fitz was obviously still much smarter than Skye, but that didn't matter for their relationship. Having a friend that understood was all they needed.

"Skye, I just explained this. This device is like a… a- portable version of the Cage. If this is turned on, it should prevent- prevent the… uhm-" Fitz waved with his hand to Skye as if that would make the right words fall magically out of the sky.

"Prevent the quakes from getting out", Skye filled in for the struggling scientist.

"Yes", Fitz nodded accompanied by a very Fitz-like hand gesture to confirm she was right. He wasn't even mad that she had finished his sentence for him.

Skye was sitting atop of a working bench with her legs swinging freely back and forth underneath it while she watched Fitz struggle along with the little box, which was opened at one side with a mess of wires and other complicated-looking things sticking out of it. It actually reminded her of Before, when they had been this newly formed rag-tag team flying with their portable house from mission to mission. The time that Fitz had even made his small attempts to flirt with her every once in a while. She smiled at the memory, though if she was being honest, she would not trade this 'new' Fitz for the old one. Both of them had something she liked and admired. It would be like having to choose between mom and dad (if she had had those).

While uttering some unrecognizable words every once in a while, Fitz laid the device down onto the working bench and turned his back to Skye to search trough some boxes with materials."

"Maybe if I replaced the copper with…"

Now that it was laying next to her, Skye jumped off the working bench and bend her head down to look at the box in close up. It was a dark metallic grey and had the same beehive pattern as the Cage, though in miniature version.

"And you're really sure this could work?" Skye asked while she straightened her back again.

"Yes, in theory it should," Fitz answered while still having his back towards her. "Ow, there it is!"

Then, even though things happened really fast, it felt like time slowed down for them and they watched each other in slow-motion. Fitz turned around to see Skye reaching with her hand towards the unfinished box, but while he yelled at her not to touch it, it was already too late. A massive spark jumped between Skye and the device and immediately all lights went out while more violent quakes than they had ever experienced had started to erupt. As things started to fall over, Skye was too much in shock to do something about it.

"Skye, stop it! You've got to control it!" Fitz yelled hysterically.

Hearing her friend yell, made Skye snap out of it and she frantically tried to focus on stopping the quakes, though no matter how hard she focused the quakes did not lower one bit in intensity.

"Skye!" Fitz yelled again.

"I can't stop it!" Skye started to cry. "I don't know- I can't-"

Behind her, the last glass Erlenmeyer flasks from the lab that were still stored there started to shatter and Skye cover her ears and screamed. She backed up towards the wall behind here where she sagged down to the ground. While she said there with her knees pulled up and hands covering her ears, crying and her face contorted in terror, Fitz knew there was nothing more that he could do for her here.

"I'm so sorry, Skye" he told her, knowing she probably wouldn't hear him in this state, before he ran out of the garage to find help , leaving Skye curled up against the wall like a small child as their beloved Bus shook on its wheels while almost everything inside got destroyed.

* * *

Skye sat up in the hospital bed Mack had moved to secluded part of the lab, while Simmons taped the last sensors to her skin. She had changed into her pajamas since Simmons had insisted they keep her in the lab trough the night for observation. Fitz had not left her sight since he had come back with help. Though a big part of that was probably out of guilt, she still enjoyed him being there for her.

"So, what exactly happened? " May asked, who was now standing cross armed next to the bed as she watched Simmons wiring up her young trainee.

"Honestly, I-" Simmons turned around to Fitz and then back to May. "We don't know exactly."

"But is she going to be okay now? Are there any lasting effects?" May asked.

"We don't know yet, though her readings are completely normal at the moment so I expect she should be okay."

May saw that Skye lifted her head, as she had been looking mostly down the entire time Simmons was putting the wires on her, and was now looking at May. When May answered her look she saw something in the girl, she was so fiercely protective over, that she had not seen before. She looked like she had given up all hope, that this was her fate and there was nothing she could do. At the same time she just looked like a scared little girl searching for comfort from a parent. May just wanted to take all that worry away, but since Fitz and Simmons were still there, she settled for silently communicating that she knew how Skye felt and was there for her.

"Though, however strange this may sound, this occurrence is actually a good thing for me and Fitz."

May pulled up her eyebrows in confusion.

"How so?"

"Well," Simmons started to explain, "this is really good data for us. We never expected such a thing to happen, but now that it did we can look for what caused it, which would then bring us one step closer to understanding how this ability works, which would in turn benefit Skye in learning how to control it or for us to create a drug or device to help her do so."

May simply nodded, but gave no further comment. A silence fell between the four people in the lab.

"You guys should go get some sleep."

Everybody turned to Skye, who had not spoken for over the past hour.

"Skye, I said I would monitor you and-" But Skye did not let Simmons finish her sentence.

"You said I was fine now and it is like morning already, so you guys should just go and get some sleep for at least a few hours. I'll be fine."

May inspected her trainee and saw that she definitely wasn't fine, not emotionally anyway.

"Skye –" May tried as well.

"No, May. Please, it's okay. I don't want you guys to have any more inconvenience over this."

May looked at her for a moment while she considered it and then gave both Simmons and Fitz a confirming look that they should indeed get some sleep. Without any further protest, the young scientists left the room. Once they were gone, May took a step closer to Skye and took her hand from where it lay in her lap. Skye looked up to her S.O. standing before her.

"Skye, if anything is wrong I want you to call me. I don't care what it is, however trivial or at whatever time, I need you to promise me that you'll call. I won't leave otherwise."

"May, I –"

"Promise me, Skye."

Skye sighed. "I promise."

"Good."

While still holding Skye hand with one of hers, May stroked Skye's upper arm with her other. After one last look May then turned around and left as well, dimming the lights a bit when she reached the door and the light switch next to it. Skye watched after her until she was certain May had left and was out of earshot. She then pulled op her legs on the bed to hug her knees and started to cry.

What she didn't know, was that Phil Coulson had been standing on a corner outside of the lab where Skye couldn't see him for quite a while as he watched his team through the glass walls taking care of the girl he loved so much. He had not yet gone to talk to her since that morning's events. Not that he didn't care, no it was quite the contrary. It broke his heart to see her like that. He had not gone to see her because he was afraid. Afraid of what actions he might have to take the day her powers got so dangerous and uncontrollable that he would have to contain her to keep his team safe, or worse…

Mack had barged into his office that afternoon, demanding that he do something. He was angry, because his friend could have gotten hurt and Coulson wasn't doing anything about it. He himself had than snapped too and yelled back that Skye was part of this team and if Mack didn't like that, he could just leave. He'd regretted those words very soon afterwards, since the last time he had used that bluff, they had actually left and he really didn't want Mack to leave. The occurrence of that arguments had spread like wildfire through the Playground. None of the team, except May, had dared to speak to Coulson for the rest of the day after that.

As he watched Skye gasping for air between her sobs from where he was standing, his heart broke a little more and he decided he couldn't take it anymore.

When Coulson closed the door behind her he kept standing there for a while. Noticing his presence, Skye looked up while continuing to hug her knees. Her eyes were read and tears were running over her cheeks. She looked utterly defeated, but he didn't know what to say yet.

While Skye sniffled and more tears ran down her cheeks, she asked;

"Why didn't you come before? "

That one question left him on the brink of tears as well, but he (just barely) managed to hold them down, because he had to be strong for her.

There were no words to answer such a question, so he simply walked towards her and stopped right in front of her, never breaking eye contact. When he reached out to cup her cheek, she leaned into his touch as he wiped her tears from her cheek with his thumb.

Skye missed the comfort of his protective hand on her face when he removed it. Luckily, he simply slided his hand down over her arm to her hand and tugged on it gently, but insistently.

"Come here." He offered.

Skye let go off her knees and got up from the hospital bed. When she was standing firmly on the ground she let herself get enveloped in his embrace and held onto him for dear life. With one hand firmly on her back he stroked the back of her head with his other. She did not hold back anymore and let all her fears float freely as he was there now to catch her when she was not able to herself.

"There is something very wrong with me," she confessed into his shoulder, just above a whisper.

"There is nothing wrong with you, Skye." He told her while continuing to stroke her hair.

"How can you say that? I destroyed almost everything on the bus this morning. This is not some one-time thing, Coulson. It keeps happening over and over again. What if I had hurt Fitz? What if something had shaken loose and fallen on his head? Things break and people get hurt because of me and I can't stop it from happening."

He was quite for a moment as he formed the proper words, because he wanted what he would say next to be completely clear to her.

"Skye, from the day I met you I saw something special in you. Your ability to see people and to care about them- You do what's right, even if that means going outside the lines or into dangerous places. That is what makes you _you_. You have changed so much since that day, but that special something I saw in you that day has not disappeared one moment. This new- ability, it changes things, but when I look at you I still see _Skye_. I'm not saying this is going to be easy, but as long as I see _you_, I don't see anything wrong with you."

Her grip on him tightened a bit more as she let his words sink in. Maybe he was right. Perhaps what lay underneath was what counted. That is what she would have told anyone that was in her position anyway. She just was so scared of hurting the people she loved; and if she was being honest, she was just _so _tired. It was a constant battle to keep holding on.

"I just don't know if I can keep doing this much longer…"

Again, his heart broke a little further. To hear her confess that she considered giving up - on everything. He could bare simply thinking about that; to not have her with him. If she were to leave him, he wasn't sure if he would have the strength to go on himself.

He pulled back to look her in the eyes and kept his hands on both of her upper arms.

"Listen to me now. I don't ever want to hear such things from you again. There are people here that love you and would be devastated if anything happened to you. May already had to go through me dying, do you want to put her through losing in any capacity too? You are so much stronger that you think, Skye. We are going to do everything to help you and things will get better, I promise."

During the time that he was talking, tears had already started to form in Skye's eyes again. She could do nothing but nod. He pulled her back in once more and briefly kissed the top of her head.

As they stood there for a while, fatigue finally caught up with Skye and her knees buckled underneath her so that his arms were the only thing keeping her upright.

"Wow, let's get you back into bed."

He held onto her until she could stand on her own two feet again and then guided her back onto the bed and tucked her in a bit. Just as he opened his mouth to tell her to get some sleep, she asked;

"Aren't they all mad at me?"

"Who?" he asked.

"The team. I heard Simmons and Bobbi whisper to each other that Mack had made a scene in your office today, when they thought I couldn't hear them."

He shook his head.

"Mack just got scared. You know how protective he has gotten over Fitz? That's all."

Skye sighed and look away.

"Cal said that once I changed, nobody would understand. He said that they would be afraid."

"Well, I'm afraid he was partly right. We don't understand it, but that doesn't matter for now. FitzSimmons are working really hard figuring out the underlying mechanisms of your powers. They will figure it out, I'm counting on that. But he was also wrong, because even though they're scared, there not afraid of you. Not Mack, not me, not anybody else on the team. It's perfectly fine that they get scared- I do too some times, but nobody is giving up on you Skye."

Again, Skye nodded.

"And they definitely don't blame you or are mad at you."

Skye looked up at him and gave him a small smile.

"Thanks, A.C."

A comfortable silence fell between them as they kept looking at each other. They had not yet noticed however, that on the table next to the hospital bed, a blue pop-up on Skye's laptop had started flashing very insistently. Then, Coulson's eye fell on it.

"Uhm, Skye, I believe your laptop is demanding your attention."

Skye turned onto her left side to look at her laptop. When she saw the pop-up, she frowned.

"That is weird. I was fairly certain I had Add-Blocker on that thing."

She sat upright and pulled the laptop into her lap. It looked like a simple 'Lose 30 kg's in 2 weeks'-add, but when she actually started to read the text in the add, her heart dropped.

_Feel like giving up? Need expert help? Come to our GRANT opening! We guarantee it will be very REWARDING!_

Seeing Skye freeze up, Coulson moved to read the add as well. He only got to see it in a flash however, as Skye switched to another screen where she appeared to be checking for breaches in the firewall.

Suddenly, her hands stopped moving and she kept starting at the screen;

"What the- No, that can't be…"

* * *

_So that's it for this chapter! Sorry about the cliff-hanger, I thought I'd just try it out! I hope you liked the chapter, and if you could find the fime; reviews are so very, very much appreciated! ;)_


	9. Chapter 9

_Hi, guys! I'm so sorry for the delay on this chapter (especially with the cliff hanger and all). I was struggling with a bit of writer's block and lack of time to do something about that writer's block... To make it up to you, this chapter has a bit of everything: Skye-Coulson, Skye-May, Phillinda(-ish), Ward, perhaps a few other people you might remember... Something for everyone! A few notes: I make a little reference to a deleted scene between Skye and Simmons at the academy from episode 1x12 ('Seeds'). If you haven't seen it, you should be able to find it on Youtube. It's hilarious! Also, in the middle of the text I put three X's vertically. These X's represent a little time-jump, just so you won't get confused;)_

_DISCLAIMER: As always, I still don't own this show or any of the characters. _

* * *

**"_What the- No, that can't be…"_**

Coulson leaned over further to see if he could make out from the computer codes Skye had been furiously typing, what had made her so upset. But the more he stared at the letters and numbers, the less he understood. Skye, however had not yet recovered from freezing up and was thus not explaining anything further.

"Skye." Coulson laid his hand on her shoulder to snap her out of it.

As soon as his hand touched her shoulder Skye shook her head to force herself back into reality and started typing again.

"Skye, what's going on? Talk to me."

While continuing to type at a ridiculous speed, Coulson had never seen anyone type with, she explained;

"Every hacker has their own style of hacking. It's like a signature or a fingerprint almost. If you know what to look for, you could identify the hacker by his hacking-style."

Coulson nodded and waited for her to continue, but she had stopped talking and was now just typing.

"So?" he asked. "Did someone hack our system?"

As soon as the sentence left his mouth, his brain caught up with his deductions. Since she wouldn't be spooked by a simple add, the system must have been hacked.

"Wait, I thought you secured the system? Someone still got in?"

Skye nodded.

"No matter how well the system is secured, nothing is impenetrable. There's always an exploit."

"So you know who hacked our system?"

"Well, I- Wait…" Skye switched a few screen. "What, I – okay, he's gone." She threw her hands up in defeat.

With her legs still in cross-position and laptop in her lap, Skye let herself fall back into her pillows again.

"He? You know who hacked our system?"

Skye sighed and looked at him.

"As I said, if you know what you're looking for, you can identify a hacker by his style. The exploits they use, in what order etc.." She paused for a moment. "For all appearances, to any highly skilled hacker it would seem that _I _hacked the system… Well, to highly skilled hacker that knows me anyway."

For a moment Coulson was unable to react and just stood there with his mouth open staring at her in confusion like an idiot as he tried to interpret what she'd just said.

"But you didn't hack the system, right?" He finally managed.

"What? No, of course not. Why would I do that? No, it was someone that went to great lengths to make it look like me."

Now Coulson was even more lost.

"Make it look like you?"

Skye nodded.

"Yeah. I suspect to get my attention."

Skye had to admit; it worked, alright. The add in itself had alarmed her as much already, but to basically watch herself hack the system had kinda spooked her.

"What? That doesn't make any sense. To get your attention? Did they access any classified files?"

Skye clicked a few times and scrolled through a few maps.

"Nope. No classified files accessed, no files downloaded, no viruses."

"That seems kind of senseless. And you know who did it?" Coulson asked again.

Skye rubbed her eyes.

"There is only one person who knows my hacking style to the core and has the skills to replicate it."

When she didn't continue immediately, Coulson asked;

"You mind elaborating?"

Skye sighed again.

"The only one who could do this is the person who taught me most of the things I know: Miles."

Skye could see the anger seeping through and show itself on Coulson's face. She had expected that he wouldn't like her ex-boyfriend showing up again. He hadn't been very fond of Miles(which was an understatement), the last time they met. She had always expected that had something to do with him leaving Miles stranded in Hong-Kong.

"Why? Why would he hack our system to get your attention? What sense does that make? He doesn't exactly make a chance anymore with you. Does he?"

Skye looked down and Coulson didn't miss it.

"Skye," he warned. "Please tell me right now that he doesn't."

Her head shot up in disgust.

"What? No! What kinda person do you think I am? No, he blew his chance with me and I'm not _that_ desperate. But- he did leave something…"

She looked back at her computer, then let the add come back up on the screen and without saying anything further turned it towards him.

After Coulson read it, he silently took a step back and saw the silent plea in Skye's eyes for him not to get overly upset, but God knew it was already too late. His mind was going a thousand miles an hour. Ward?! That was even worse than Miles! How dare that bastard show up again and contact Skye! And he had recruited that activist ex-boyfriend of her as well? He had secretly hoped Miles would have still been stuck in Hong Kong. He was never good enough for Skye; she deserved so much better than him- than both of those assholes. He did not want to deal with either of them right now. Unfortunately, he was the director and there was no place for his overreactions at this moment. He needed to deal with the situation.

Coulson opened his mouth to form a plan on how to approach, but Skye beat him to the punch;

"We should call May," Skye said.

Coulson frowned with the slighted hint of being offended.

"What? Why? I'm director and were handling it, right? No need to wake May up for this, I'll tell her in the morning."

Skye smiled warmly at him.

"I know you can handle it, A.C., but I promised May that if anything happened I would call her. She's going to be pissed at the both of us if I don't. Or worse- she won't be mad, but disappointed…"

As soon as the sentence left Skye's mouth both of them fell silent as they remembered the last time May had been disappointed in either of them. Mad-May, that they could handle; she would give you the silent treatment and glare at you, but that would pass in a few days max. However, if May was disappointed, there was no glaring, no silent treatment, just less talking than normally and her being sort of nice without ever addressing what you did wrong. The guilt in disappointing Melinda May was not something either of them was looking forward to, so they silently decided it would be better to call her.

* * *

Within five minutes after Skye called, May walked into the lab. She's wearing one of her V-line black T-shirts and a pair of black sweatpants with a string in front of the waistband and wide pipes. It was a look she wasn't seen in very often. She only wore it in the privacy of her bunk. Of course, in their academy days, Coulson had seen her wearing her pyjama's plenty of times, but these days not so much.

"What happened?" she asked as soon as she entered.

They didn't answer but Skye just handed her a tablet that was now showing the add Miles had uploaded. May took a minute to absorb the content.

"Ward?"

Her partner and trainee nodded.

"So he's still not done." It was more a statement than a question.

"No," Coulson responded none the less.

May handed the tablet back to Skye and crossed her arms.

"Do we know what he wants?"

"No. There are no specific details, just this," Coulson answered.

"And _how_? Ward doesn't have the skills to get through Skye's security."

"Skye thinks he is working with Miles."

May turned her attention to Skye.

"Wait. Miles-your-ex-boyfriend-Miles?"

Skye nodded.

"Yup. That's the one."

May sighed and tried to decide on a course of action. She turned back to Coulson.

"I think we have to step it up a nudge with Ward, Phil. We need to know _where_ he is and _what_ he's doing. I've been thinking of bringing someone in for quite a while now for another reason, and I think now is the perfect opportunity."

* * *

X

X

X

"So, is she your daughter?"

May knew her mother to be direct, but the question left her feeling like she got slapped in the face with it. Her mother had come to stand next to May from where she was looking at Skye from a distance outside the lab, without a greeting word. This wasn't uncommon or rude to them. Both of them weren't people of many words.

"No mom, I'm just her S.O."

Out of the corner of her eye she saw her mother nod.

"Just Phil's child then?"

A smile crept on May's but was gone so fast that it had almost been imperceptible.

"Closer, but still no."

Her mother gave an affirming hum.

"And don't think I didn't hear that." May told her mother.

"Hear what, Melinda? You'll have to be more specific than that."

"The subtle way you put in the word 'just'. Phil and I are not a couple, mom. He can invite me to be his second in command without me being his partner in any other way than professionally or platonically.

Her mother remained silent for a while.

"Melinda, if you think I would make such an assumption, than I wonder if perhaps you know me at all."

It was true. It was a low move to accuse her mother of that and May knew it. She knew her mother would never think such a thing. It were her skills, authority and loyalty, proven over many years and ops, that had gotten her to where she was. To think her mother would assume anything else was foolish. After all, she was an agency-women herself.

"I'm sorry, mom. I know you would never think that."

"It's okay. I forgive you. You are under a lot of stress."

"We really aren't a couple though."

Her mother hummed in a way that wasn't covering the skepticism towards her daughter's answer in any way, which did not go unnoticed by May.

"Mom!" She exclaimed while turning her head towards her mother.

"No, I believe you, Melinda. Truly. If you say so, I believe you."

Still not entirely satisfied with her mother's answer, May decided it wasn't going to get any better than that and decided to let it rest. They stood in silence as they watched Skye light up as Coulson (unaware of the women watching from a distance) enter the lab to check on the young girl.

"If you are calling me on my subtle nuances, however, I must do the same to you."

May kept silent.

"So the girl is not Phil's daughter, but he feels about her that way?"

May nodded, even though she and her mother weren't facing each other.

"Yes. He'd give his life for Skye. She is the daughter he never had."

Again, a silence fell between them.

"And is she to you?"

Her daughter didn't answer, but when Mrs. May looked over, she didn't miss the smile on May's face and the look of pure adoration and pride as she watched her young trainee and partner chatting away in the lab. That was all the answer she needed.

As if on cue, Skye noticed the women standing outside the lab looking in and said something to Coulson, who then turned around to look at mother and daughter. He laid his hand on Skye's arm momentarily to excuse himself and then left the lab to meet them.

"Hello, Mrs. May. I didn't know May was bringing you in today. Allow me to welcome you to our base."

He walked up to May's mother and gave her a greeting kiss on the cheek.

"Hello, Phillip. I must say you are looking very well and lively for a dead man."

May and Coulson exchanged apologetic glances with each other, both for different reasons. Him for dying and her for dying of embarrassment.

"Thank you, I guess. Though in my defense, I was actually dead for a while."

"It's alright, Phillip. No need to explain. Melinda has told me all about it. The funeral was lovely by the way, even though I've never seen my daughter as upset before."

Coulson looked at the ground and then up to May, who was clearly struggling to keep those memories down.

"Someone had to comfort my daughter, Phillip. And that someone was me, since you weren't there to do so."

May watched Coulson take a deep breath. She had never seen her mother criticize Coulson in such a way before, or any way really. To almost everyone of her other friends and definitely to any other man she had introduced to her mother, yes. Never to Phil though. He had been the only guy her mother had really liked. For her to be so direct with him now, was new to both May and Coulson.

"For that, I am truly sorry. I'm not sorry however for the fact that it resulted in the opportunity to work with your daughter again. I missed that for many years… I missed her."

His supported his statement by locking eyes with May again, who held his gave as they exchanged everything their friendship meant to them. They had almost forgotten that May's mother was still standing there, when she said;

"Good."

Coulson and May broke their eye contact.

"Now can I meet the girl?"

* * *

As Skye was scanning through the content of her laptop, she looked up when she heard the door open and saw Coulson re-enter the lab with May and the Chinese women May had been talking to outside the lab. She put her laptop down.

"Skye, I want to introduce you to my mother: Qioalian May."

Okay. That was a curveball. Skye hadn't been expecting that, though now that she thought about it, it actually made a lot of sense considering the way they were talking in the hallway.

"Your- Uhm, okay. Well, it's nice to meet you Mrs. May. I'm Skye."

She reached out her hand for May's mother to shake, but was ignored and her hand left hanging in the air.

"Yes, I know who you are."

"妈妈!"May warned her mother, but she wasn't acknowledging her daughter's exclamations.

Mrs. May walked up closer to Skye and started inspecting her as if she were a piece of livestock. When Skye began feeling too uncomfortable, she asked;

"If you don't mind me asking, why are you he-"

"Melinda tells me you have powers," Mrs. May bluntly interrupted her.

"Uhm, I guess… If that's what you want to call them."

"How would you call them?"

Skye scoffed and then shrugged.

"I don't know. A problem?"

Coulson and May exchanged looks at the incredible sadness and gravity in those words, hidden behind a mask of jokes and indifference the young girl was holding up. Mrs. May simply nodded, while she still seemed to be making assessments of Skye in her head.

"A problem. Interesting."

Skye gave a questioning look towards May and Coulson, who both answered with the same look on both their faces that said: 'Just stick with it a while longer. She knows what she's doing'.

"Who are your parents?" May's mother asked.

"Hasn't May told you?"

"Yes, but I'm asking you."

Skye shifted on the bed.

"I've only met my father. He says his name is Cal, I don't know his last name. I also don't know my mother's name, just that she was Chinese."

Mrs. May looked unimpressed. Or if she was, she wasn't letting on.

"Is that all you know?"

Skye shook her head.

"I know that my father is- or at least was, a doctor. He told me that he worked in a clinic in China and that my mother worked there with him as well. Mostly to translate I believe, because he said his Chinese wasn't that good. I know that my mother was apparently 'special' and that she was taken and torn apart by Hydra for it. S.H.I.E.L.D. agents then took me and place me in hiding. My dad looked for me ever since and has wiped pretty much everyone in his path away. And that's an understatement."

May's mother kept her poker face and asked;

"What's your real name?"

"It's Skye," Skye answered resolutely, even though she knew damn well what May's mother was really asking.

May and Coulson smiled.

"Your birthname."

"My father called me Daisy," Skye answered.

May's mother turned around and mumbled;

"Hmm, just as I thought."

Now Skye was getting frustrated at the one-sided exchange of information.

"I don't want to disrespect you, because your May's mother and all, but do you mind telling me what this is about?"

Mrs. May stopped dead in her tracks and turned back around to Skye, looking at her intently as if to judge if she was worthy of revealing information to.

"Despite what you may think, S.H.I.E.L.D. is not the only organization of which gifteds have caught it's eye. The CIA has been following gifted individuals for many years as well. They… attract attention."

Skye shrugged and shook her head.

"So?"

"So," Mrs. May continued, sounding slightly irritated. "When your parents were living in China, me and the team I was overseeing were keeping taps your parents, especially your mother in the loop. I actually knew her."

Skye was gob smacked.

"You- You knew my mother?" She asked carefully.

May's mother nodded.

"Yes. She was a charming women. Bright and helpful. I liked her. I knew that she had bared a child, but I was going through a transfer during that time, so I couldn't find the time to check in again to see how she was doing and if the child- you - were gifted as well. Next time I heard anything about her, it was in the report of the destroyed village and her death."

Skye swallowed. A few feet away May and Coulson kept a close eye on her to see how she was handling the information, like parents would for their child.

"What does that have to do with why you're here?" Skye finally managed to ask.

Mrs. May looked at her daughter and then back to Skye.

"Melinda believes I might know more about the type of gift you have. She wanted me to look if there was anything I could do to help you. My daughter doesn't ask for my help very often, so I assumed it would be worth my time."

Skye looked at May, who gave her a small, but reassuring smile. Skye smiled back.

"Show me." May's mother said suddenly.

"Excuse me?" Skye asked.

"Show me your powers. I want to know what it is I'm dealing with."

Skye breathing instantly became shallower as fear started to spike and she immediately looked for support in Coulson and May.

"It's okay, Skye. Just a little one. Breath." May reassured her.

Skye took a few deep breaths and then let go. The bed she was sitting on began to vibrate and dust came floating down from the ceiling tiles. Skye took another deep breath and the vibrating stopped again.

She looked up at May's mother to see if she thought Skye was a monster. However, all she saw was a little twinkle in her eyes.

"Very well." Mrs. May said and began walking towards the door.

"Phillip, if you would come with me. I'm not quite done with you yet, young man."

Coulson gave the most terrified look to May, like a little boy being called to the principal's office (though in this case it would be his _own_ office), and with that same look on his face left the room with her mother.

"Mom, there something else I need to talk to you about as well, later." May yelled after her mother.

"You know where to find me, Melinda." Her mother answered.

As soon as the door was closed May walked up to Skye and laid a hand on her arm.

"Are you okay? "

Skye let out a relieved sigh.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

May nodded and took her hand away again.

"So… Your mother?" Skye asked, a little playfully.

May smiled.

"Yes. That was my mother."

"Wow, I can't imagine the childhood you must have had. I actually kinda feel bad for you."

May shook her head.

"Don't be. She wasn't as bad as you may think. I mean, she was a nightmare when it came to boyfriends, but overall she was a good mother."

Skye laughed.

"O my god, and I thought considering that Simmons had boyfriends was weird."

May laughed along with her, which instantly lifted Skye's spirit as well. You couldn't not have your spirit lifted if this women laughed.

"She seemed to be okay with Coulson though. Except for at the end… I have no idea what the hell that was all about."

"Coulson wasn't my boyfriend."

Skye pulled up an eyebrow and with her facial expression silently asked: 'Do you really expect me to believe that?'.

"Watch it, Skye." May warned, though the playfulness still showed in her voice.

"Yeah, okay. But don't think I'm letting you two off for good. I'll just stalk Coulson until he tells me."

"I told you, there's nothing to tell."

"Hmhmm, I'll be the judge of that."

Both of them kept smiling as they fell silent. Then Skye's face fell and the seriousness returned.

"Do you really think she can help me?"

May sighed shortly and gave a nod.

"I think there's a good change she might. She has dealt with gifted people almost her entire carrier. She could be considered a bit of an expert and seeing that she knew your mother too, I'm really hoping on it."

Skye looked down at her left hand that had started shaking. May sat down on the edge of the bed and grabbed it and gently held it with both her hands.

"It's going to be okay, Skye. I'm not one to romanticize things, because I like to deal with reality- so believe me when I say, that I know you're going to be okay. "

Skye just kept looking at May and nodded, because she was unable to form the words to express her gratitude.

"You would have been a great mother too, you know," Skye said suddenly.

May swallowed and looked away.

"I'm sorry," Skye said immediately, sensing that she had struck a nerve and looked down.

May took a deep breath. She had secretly always wanted to be a mother, but the kind of life she had chosen for herself had obviously made that impossible. Not that she had ever admitted that to anyone. She turned her head back towards Skye.

"No, don't be sorry."

While continuing to look down she shrugged insecurely and said;

"I'm just saying, that if you would have come by the orphanage when I was younger I would have more than happily gone with you to live with you."

May smiled and smoothed her thumb over the back of Skye's hand from where she was still holding it.

"Thank you, Skye. You have no idea how much that means to me."

Out of the blue Skye moved to sit on her knees and without warning threw her arms around May's neck and pulled her into a hug. May didn't hesitate and immediately responded to the hug and tightly pulled the young girl in. After a while May said, almost on a whisper;

"For the record: I would have loved to have taken you home from that orphanage."

* * *

_Yup, that's it for this chapter! As I said, a little of everything. Tell me what you liked most and I'll look to work that in more in further chapters! ;) And as always: please do review, because I love to hear from you guys!_


	10. Chapter 10

**_So here's the next chapter of unconditionally! I know it took me a while, but I was struggeling with really bad writers block on this story, and serious lack of time to write. I hope you guys aren't too mad about it! _**

**_To quickly recap: Skye (she is still Skye in my story, not Daisy) has her powers, but she's struggeling to get them under control. After an escalation, May called in her mother, who is (obviously) older and has more experience with inhumans. She also has history with Coulson, since he and May are longtime friends, and even took him for a little one-on-one (awkward). Also, Ward has been leaving Skye messages, by hacking into her laptop. Except, Ward doesn't have the skills to do that... But Miles (Skye's ex-boyfriend from season one) does. So what are those two up to?_**

**_PS: I put a small easteregg in this chapter, from a (two word) line from another movie Clark Gregg (the actor who plays Phil Coulson) did with his wife Jennifer Grey (yes, THE Jennifer Grey from Dirty Dancing), called 'The Road to Christmas'. For those of you who've seen it: maybe you find the easter egg (hint: it's from the scene where he shows her his art pieces). I loved the way he acted that scene. So raw and so well done. For those who haven't seen is: it's a low budget movie about a guy who is driving with his daughter to his mother's house for christmas, and they pick up another woman on the way there who needs a ride. It low key, a little corny, and not the best movie of all time or anything, but I still loved it. Definitely recommend it if you're looking for a happy-ending, family holiday movie. (His latest movie 'Trust Me' is a good one too. The ending is little weird, because it's an indie movie, but still a really funny, warmhearted movie. Okay, I'm going to stop promoting his movies now, but I just wanted to share them, because I think they're great and nobody I know have watched them as well, so I wanted to share it here. Watch them if you like and got some spare time;))_**

**_Now: enjoy this new chapter!_**

* * *

**_\- In Coulson´s office after May´s mother left. -_**

"So… That was kinda weird with May's mom." Skye began.

"Yeah, she is a bit strange, but she's fine when you get to know her a bit better. Don't worry."

Skye crossed her arms. "That's not what I was talking about."

Coulson looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"I was talking about her dragging you away to have a little one-on-one. Something you want to tell me?"

Coulson shrugged. "I don't know what you're getting at, Skye. She just wanted to talk to me. It's been awhile. Nothing else to tell."

"Not the first time I've heard that." Skye mumbled.

"What?" Coulson asked.

"Nothing. So she didn't want to interrogate you because of old times perhaps?"

"What old times?"

"Oh come on, Coulson. When you and May were dating of course."

"Uhm, Skye, May and I never dated. You know that right?"

"Yeah yeah," Skye waved his answer away with her hand. "May told me the same thing. I'm here to tell you that I'm not buying it."

"Well, you better start buying it, because I've got nothing else to offer you. We never dated. We're just friends, always have been."

"Hmhmm. So you've never gone undercover before, like you did when we went to steal the painting. Pretended to be boyfriend and girlfriend? It would be a great cover. You guys played it so convincingly the last time- almost like you've done it before." Skye said as she tried to see his reaction.

Coulson was looking at her with his famous poker face. The one he always used when talking to suspects or other people he doesn't trust. Just a smile, which made it seem like he was impenetrable. That he was trying to disguise his feelings encouraged Skye even more.

"Then maybe you had a drink to maintain your cover. Danced a little. Being in each other's arms after working together so long- being friends for so long…"

Skye paused to look for a crack in his composure.

"…A spark jumped. You looked into the other's eyes and saw something you never saw before. Afterwards you returned to the hotel for the night. But then as you stood outside your rooms perhaps you could no longer resist how beautiful May looked in her dress, and she couldn't deny that you had never looked more handsome in your suit. So instead of going to your separate rooms, you took her hand and you guys went into your room and-"

"Okay, Skye, that's enough!" Coulson jumped in. "None of that ever happened. There was no undercover boyfriend-girlfriend dancing, no gazing into each other's eyes, no noticing her dress and my suit or whatever. We're friends. Partners. Nothing more."

Skye grinned at the fact that she had managed to break his composure.

"Like hell there was no undercover dancing! I hacked into the security cams on our mission. That is most definitely not the first time you've danced together!"

"You were able to hack into the security cameras? Why didn't you tell us that back then?!"

"Hey, don't change the subject!

"Okay fine. We have danced together before. We entered the dance elective at S.H.I.E.L.D. academy. They teach you how to scan the environment while dancing. May wanted the extra credits so she could graduate and we dropped it two weeks later."

"And you still remember _all_ the steps?"

Skye still wasn't buying it.

"You know May. Her memory of motor functions is ridiculous. When she learns something that involves choreography or other physical moves, she never forgets."

"Yeah, I wasn't that surprised that she remembered, I meant you."

"What about me?"

"You remembered those steps too after all those years!"

Coulson scoffed.

"Well maybe I like dancing."

"Maybe you liked something else about that particular dance routine you learned in those two weeks."

But just as Skye wanted to ask further he came walking towards her, grabbed her shoulders and gently turned her around and pushed her towards the door of his office.

"I've got work to do now, Skye. And so do you."

"Wait, I wasn't done talking about this." She protested as he led her to the door.

"Bye, Skye." He said to her as he pushed her over the threshold and close the door behind her. He could still see the outlines of her form through the semi-see-through glass.

"This conversation isn't over!" Skye called from behind the door. When he didn't answer, she left.

He grinned and got back to work.

* * *

**_\- A few days later - _**

"I've been thinking about Ward and Miles." Skye said. "I think we need to go save Miles."

Coulson put down his sandwich and wiped his mouth with a napkin.

"Absolutely not. That's exactly what Ward wants, drawing you out. He is using Miles to do that- no wait, strike that, because we don't even know that for sure. Miles could be working with Ward voluntarily. I can imagine he wasn't that happy when I left him stranded in China and guys tend to become angry when you dump them."

Skye shook her head. He was right; when she had broken up with guys in the past, their demeanour changed from day to night. She had heard a character in a movie once say: "boys will be nice to you, until you reject them". That character had been right. She had experienced the same thing every time she dumped a guy, but Miles was different. She just knew it.

"No. Not Miles. He would never want to hurt me and he isn't even capable of working with someone as evil as Ward. It goes against every fiber of his being."

Coulson sighed. He didn't like destroying her (still somewhat) fond image of Miles, but it was necessary. He didn't trust Ward one bit, and neither did he trust Miles.

"Yeah, you said that before, but then you found out he took a large sum of money for information he got. Remember?"

Skye started pacing in his office.

"I know now that he isn't the man I once thought he was. What he did, selling that information- it was wrong and I see now that he isn't such a pure activist. But he took the money to get a better life for himself- for me too even. Teaming up with a bad buy like Ward to go against a common 'enemy', that's a whole different level, one he isn't capable of stepping up to."

"You don't know that, Skye. People can change. A lot can happen in a few years and his certainly hasn't been easy. Who knows what he's capable of when he's got enough anger in him? I'm sorry, Skye, but I can't let you try and save him."

Skye stopped pacing, walked up to Coulson's desk and slammed her hands on it in frustration.

"Damnit Coulson, I know how it looks, but I know I'm right about this! I need you to trust me. We trusted you to follow on the road you were taking, when everything pointed towards the other way. The carvings, Akela Amador... I'm asking you to trust me now, to follow me on the road I'm taking."

Maybe he should trust her on this. Perhaps his own vision was clouded be her two ex-boyfriends more than hers was. If Miles really was helping Ward involuntarily, he deserved their help.

"Okay." He said simply. "But I'm going to have to talk about it with May first, so I can't make any promises. I'll see what I can do."

Skye straightened her back again.

"Thank you."

* * *

That night, Coulson left his office exhausted after the amount of coordinating he just did. He and May had discussed Skye's request to save Miles. She hadn't been thrilled about the idea, but he had managed to turn her around on it. Coulson walked towards the kitchen to get his nightly cup of tea. It had become his new routine before going to bed. He just sat down with his tea for a while as he just focussed on the steam coming of the hot liquid. He inhaled the scent of Camille and tried to let all the problems disappear until nothing but him, the room and the tea existed. He intended to do the same thing tonight. As he walked through the living area, he spotted his youngest agent sitting on the couch.

"Hey." He greeted.

Skye turned around.

"Hey" she replied.

"Shouldn't you go to bed? It's pretty late and you'll be going in as a field agent on the mission tomorrow. You need your rest."

Skye sighed. "Can't sleep. I'm a little apprehended about tomorrow I guess."

He nodded and noticed an empty mug was standing on the coffee table in front of her. He pointed at it and asked,

"I was going to make some tea. Want some?"

"Yeah, sure" she nodded.

He got the water boiling, and looked for the teabags. He then put one in her mug and got one for himself as well.

"Milk or sugar?" He asked.

"With milk, please" she replied.

When the tea was done, he took both mugs and after giving Skye hers, sat down next to her on the couch. They sat like that without speaking for a while as they just enjoyed the heat coming of the tea and the silence.

"So why are you still up? You're going to be in the field tomorrow as well and you're not exactly getting any younger." She teased him.

"Hey! Uncalled for!" Coulson pretended to be offended. He knew she was just messing with him.

"And for the record, being director isn't a 9-17 job and these kind of missions don't plan themselves. A lot of work goes into them."

"I know." Skye replied.

They continued their peaceful silence again. Coulson took the opportunity to take a look around the room. It looked lived in to him. This base wasn't just a workplace, it was their home; to a lot of agents. He was proud of what they'd build here. He then turned his head to look at Skye and he saw she was in deep thought. As she apparently didn't notice him observing her, he continued to do so a little longer. She had grown so much. No longer was the rebellious hacker he pulled from her van sitting next to him, he was witnessing her turning into a real grown woman and he enjoyed every minute of it. He may never have gotten married, or had children of his own, but she was his family now and he would never let her down.

"What are you thinking about?" he asked her.

She sighed.

"I was just thinking about Miles. We met when we were just kids. He was an orphan too and we just clicked. We talked so many nights about what it would be like to live with your own family. He was a trouble maker too, so he always got send back to orphanage just like me. Only his parents were dead, but I was convinced mine were still alive. He was determined to help me find them, even though he had nothing to gain from it. He put all his time and energy into helping me, while he had no money or food. I will always owe him for that."

Coulson just nodded.

"I sometimes have this dream these days... Maybe I shouldn't tell you, it's kinda awkward. Oh what the hell, I'm going to tell you anyway. Sometimes I dream that I'm back at St. Agnes and you and May are looking for a kid to bring home and you choose me. You bring me new clothes and other stuff and bring me home with you. I really like those dreams." She confessed to him.

He smiles and then lays his hand on her knee and squeezes it briefly.

"So what about you? Did you ever want kids?" she asks him then.

He doesn't answer right away, but considers his answer first. He hadn't thought about his wishes and dreams from when he was younger in a while.

"I did. A lot. I always thought that there would be time for all that, but then- Life intervened. I moved up higher in S.H.I.E.L.D., worked 24/7 on the Avengers program. I had Audrey for a while and I thought maybe she would be the one I'd start a family with, but then I died, which kinda complicated the whole starting a family. And as you said, I'm not getting any younger and meeting women is even harder now than it used to be and also I'm the director of a spy organisation... The kind of family I once wanted isn't going to happen for me, but I'm really happy and proud of the family we've got here. "

"I'm sorry." Skye told him.

"Don't be. It may not be what I imagined for myself, but I regret nothing."

They fell silent again and got lost in their individual thoughts for a while.

"Well, you know they say becoming a grandparent is one of the most beautiful things right?"

He was confused and turned his head towards her.

"Skye, I thought we just established that I don't have kids. How exactly do you think I can become a grandparent without kids of my own? You know how that works right?"

"Well, someday my kid is going to be needing a grandfather and Cal is not exactly a mentally stable candidate for that role."

He was still confused, which she could read all over his face.

"You gave me a family when I had no one, so for all intents and purposes you did choose me and brought me home with you. You're like a father to me, so it would be only logical that when I have children you're going to be their grandfather as well."

He couldn't contain the smile that had formed on his face.

"I'd love that" he told her.

"But that doesn't mean I'm allowing boys in your room." He jokingly followed up.

"You do know I'm 26 right?"

"My house, my rules."

"Well then I'll go to his house."

"Who is this guy? I think I need to have a little man-to-man with him."

"God, dad, it's my life! I can do what I want!" she said in her annoyed teen-voice.

That made him laugh.

They fell silent again and Skye yawned.

"I think someone needs to be heading to bed." He said.

Skye nodded and got up from the couch.

"Goodnight, Coulson."

"Goodnight, Skye."

But before she left the room, she could resist teasing him a little bit more;

"Ow and the guy is Carl Creel. You know, because of his rock hard abs, no pun intended, and because he can turn any body part into any-"

"Stop, stop! I don't need that image in my head!" He interrupted her before the image could take form in his mind.

Skye laughed.

"Goodnight, Coulson! Sweet dreams!"

* * *

That night Coulson indeed had the best dream he'd had in years, maybe even the best ever. In his dream he was sitting at his desk, when suddenly he heard a familiar voice coming from outside his office:

"_Daisy! I said no running in the hallways! People are carrying dangerous things around here!" _

_He recognised the voice as the one of his favourite hacker/agent/inhuman. He smiled. Mere seconds later a toddler came running around the corner into his office. The little girl looked like Skye's mini-me with the same partly Asian features and straight dark brown hair, except she had blue eyes. When she was born, he thought she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen and she kept getting more beautiful every day._

"_Grandpa, grandpa!" The little girl kept yelling and she ran straight towards him. Before she could reach him, he'd already gotten up and was walking towards her with extended arms and hoisted her up once she reached him._

"_There's my favourite, youngest agent! Look how big you've gotten! Just a bit longer and you'll be taller than uncle Fitz." He smiled at her. _

_The preschooler giggled._

"_Nooo grandpa, uncle Fitz is much taller than me. I'll be that tall when I'm grown up."_

"_Ow yes of course. You're much smarter than me about these kind of things." He played along with her._

_When he bend his knees to put her down again, the little girl protested:_

"_Grandpaaa! Big hug!"_

_He stopped putting her down._

"_Oh no, I almost forgot! And we can't forget our big hug now, can we?"_

"_No." she fiercely shook her head in agreement._

_He held her, so that she could wrap both her arms around his neck and her feet around his torso as well. He fully embraced her as well and squeezed her a little. He made some exaggerated growling sounds as he hugged her, which made her giggle again. _

"_Can we go drive Lola? Pleaase?"_

"_Hmm, well I don't know." He pretended to be considering her request. "I'm really busy, but maybe if you give me a kiss…"_

_She immediately gave him a big kiss on his cheek. His heart swelled at the love he felt for his granddaughter. _

"_Okay, okay, we'll take Lola for a drive. But you have to ask your mommy first if it's okay."_

_While they were still hugging, Skye walked in._

"_There you are, sweetie! I've been looking all over for you. I should have known you would run to grandpa Phil first though."_

_When Skye entered, Daisy started squirming in Phil's arms and he put her down on the ground. She ran to her mom._

"_Mommy, grandpa and I are going to fly in Lola!"_

_Skye stroked her daughters head. "Is that so?"_

_She looked questioningly to Coulson to find out what things he had promised her daughter this time, in the 5 minutes she was in his office._

"_Hey now, I said __**drive**__. And only if it was okay with your mommy."_

_Daisy started tugged at her mother's pants to get her attention. Skye looked at her daughter again._

"_Can I, mommy? Please?"_

_Skye looked back up to Coulson, who wore the exact same puppy dog eyes her daughter had put on. She sighed. These two were going to be the death of her._

"_Okay. But driving only! No flying!"_

_A big smile formed on the preschooler's face, and she looked at her grandfather. He gave her a quick wink, to tell her that they would still fly a bit, even though her mom had said no. Daisy's smile grew even wider._

"_Honey, could you go find daddy for me, please? He and I need to get going soon."_

_Daisy nodded and ran out of the office again._

"_Don't touch anything!" Skye yelled after her, but she doubted her daughter had heard it._

"_My god, the amount of energy that one has. It's endless, I'm telling you."_

"_Yeah, wonder where she got that from." He teased her._

_Coulson walked back to his desk and Skye plopped down on the couch._

"_You're making jokes now, but in two days you'll understand the struggle I have to live through every single day. Are you sure you can look after her for a few days? I know you're really busy."_

_She and Lincoln had some business to attend to overseas and their sitter had the flu. The only other person she trusted her daughter with, was Coulson. He loved Daisy, she knew that, but taking care of a preschooler when you are not used to doing so, is a whole other level._

"_It will be fine. Relax. And I won't be doing it alone, because I've got a whole base of agents who adore that little girl."_

_Skye nodded._

"_We'll be fine. Don't worry." He assured her._

_Daisy came back into his office, dragging Lincoln by his hand behind her._

"_I founded Daddy!" She announced. Lincoln waved to Coulson to greet him._

"_You __**found **__daddy, sweetie." Skye corrected._

"_Ow yeah, found." Daisy agreed and she looked like she was mentally storing the information. She had dyslexia, but she never let it hold her back. She was a fighter._

_Skye got up from the couch and adjusted her clothes. _

"_Well, I guess we'll get going then. We're already late." _

_As she walked towards her husband and daughter, Lincoln said:_

"_That you for letting us use the quinjet again, Phil. Commercial airlines are a pain in the-"_

_Daisy's head shot up to her father, because she knew the word that would be coming after._

"_-butt." Lincoln corrected at the last moment. Daisy giggled. She put one hand to her mouth and whispered to her father;_

"_You almost said 'ass', daddy." _

_Lincoln pursed his lips and placed his index finger in front of them, indicating to be quiet about it and winked at her._

"_Looks like it's a good thing you're taking a little break from Daddy. He's a bad influence on you." Skye joked and kneeled in front of her daughter._

_When she was on eye level with her daughter, she told her;_

"_It's only going to be 3 days. We'll be back before you know it. Grandpa is going to be really sweet to you, and you can call us at any time. And I need you to look after grandpa for me, okay? He'll get lonely otherwise."_

_Daisy nodded. "I won't let grandpa get lonely. I'm going to hug him all day long."_

"_I love you." Skye told her daughter and hugged her. Daisy muttered a muffled 'I love you' back to her._

"_Kiss?" Skye asked when she pulled back. Her daughter gave her a quick kiss on the lips._

"_And now give daddy a hug too."_

_She hugged and exchanged 'I love you'-s with Lincoln as well._

_When they were done saying goodbye's, Coulson came to hug Skye as well and shook Lincoln's hand. He then took his granddaughter's hand and they walked her parents to the hanger. As they waved them goodbye, while the airplane took off, Daisy asked;_

"_We're going to fly Lola too, right?"_

"_Of course we are, kiddo." He said as they kept waving until the plane was out of sight._

* * *

_**So, that's it for this (long awaited) chapter! Please, leave a comment to tell me if you liked (and/or you spotted the easter egg)! I love hearing from you guys!**_


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